Will of Fire
by Circean Shadow
Summary: Nearly killed on his third birthday, Naruto is sent out of the village to train with the Uchiha Prodigy, Itachi. Watch as he finds connections and makes irremovable bonds to become truly powerful and protect everyone he loves. NaruxHina NarutoxBleach
1. Prologue

_Summary: When Naruto is nearly killed on his third birthday Sarutobi decides that it is time he leaves his village to learn basic skills in order to be able to defend himself._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

**Will of Fire**

By Pyxl Myxr

Prologue: Difference Between Possessor and Possessed

'_What did I do to deserve this?'_ This was the thought of a young boy as he ran through the streets of the village. The boy, no older than three, was currently running away from some villagers and even some shinobi that were chasing him. His clothes were dirty and torn, covered with blood stains. Turing a corner he suddenly found himself in a short alley ending in a dead end. Turning around he saw the villagers and shinobi blocking the entrance and slowly advancing on him. Each of the villagers was carrying some type of object, from a club, to a broken beer bottle, while the shinobi held more dangerous weapons such as kunai; one even was gripping a Katana. If the villagers and shinobi hadn't been possessed by their rage they might have noticed the fear in the young boy's eyes. With a yell the villagers and shinobi raced forward. When they reached the boy they started beating him with everything they had. _'Why are they attacking me?'_ On the ground bleeding from multiple cuts and crying the boy finally spoke to his attackers? "Why are you attacking me? I've never done anything to you."

The villagers just laughed and attacked the boy with more vigor. "Shut up Demon! You killed my wife and son"

'_Shit'_ Currently the Hokage was sprinting towards where the boy was being attacked. Behind him were several shinobi, these though, were Anbu and did not hate the boy and were loyal to the Hokage. Landing between Naruto and his attackers the Hokage released a gigantic amount of killing intent. Unfazed the Anbu landed behind the attackers stopping their retreat.

One of the villagers less affected by the killing intent had the nerve to yell out "Why are you protecting the Demon Child? He needs to die or he—"

Suddenly villager's voice was cut off, a hand extending through his chest. Removing his hand with a sickening squelch Kakashi stood straight releasing some of his own killing intent as if daring anyone else to speak against the child, now unconscious from the extent of his injuries.

The Hokage speaking, barely able to contain the rage in his voice and stop himself from killing all of the attackers addressed a short Anbu with the mask of a weasel, supposedly the captain of the present squad. "Itachi, take them to Prison Block E. I will send Ibiki there later." Once everyone was gone the Hokage turned and picked up the unconscious boy, speeding off towards the hospital. _'Why do so few realize that this boy is no different from them?'_ Arriving at the hospital he rushed in.

A nurse, seeing his frenzied state, quickly ran over to where he was. "Is there something you need Hokage-sama?"

"This boy needs medical treatment, fast!"

Looking at the kid in his arms the determination in her face quickly changed to disgust and revulsion. "I refuse to help the Demon. He deserves to die for what he did."

Suddenly the killing intent that the Hokage had released earlier and had only just completely disappeared returned full force. "THIS BOY IS NOT A DEMON! HE'S A HERO AND WILL RECEIVE PROPER TREATMENT."

Hearing the commotion and feeling the sudden pressure a man ran into the room. Upon seeing the state of the boy in the Hokage's arms he rushed off yelling back, "Follow me! He needs treatment right away."

Running after the man, the Hokage felt some of his anger disappear, though he continued to worry. _'At least there are some people besides the shinobi who knew the Fourth Hokage that don't feel hate towards the boy."_

Entering a plain room the man instructed the Hokage to put the boy down. Scanning him with a quick medical jutsu he sighed in relief and turned to the worried Hokage. "He'll be fine. Though he has many wounds they are quickly healing, and he requires no assistance. I'm sorry about our nurse; she will be fired and will not receive her next paycheck."

Nodding the Hokage sighed, his worry completely disappearing. "Thank you. What is your name? I will make sure you receive a proper reward."

Smiling the man shook his head. "I wish for no reward, this boy had been treated badly for too long, this was the least I could do to try and repay him for the burden he has. As for my name, it is Atsumu. Both my mother and my father were medical nins but their true dream was to have a child. Every time they tried, though, they failed. Finally, after praying to Kami-sama for a year my mother became pregnant and I was born. When I was 17, the Kyuubi attacked and I, being an inexperienced medical nin, was here at the hospital healing the people who could no longer fight. My parents being very good medical nins though, were out in the battlefield trying to heal the fallen. They were killed. After their death, for a while I became cold, and hated the boy with a passion, believing that he was the demon. Finally after a year I realized what I was doing. My parents were kind people, fair to everyone and never judged someone based on what others said about them. After this realization I watched the boy for some time and I'll have to say that he seems no more a demon than a butterfly. Despite the way he has been treated he is kind to everything and everyone. The only time I have ever seen him angry or harm someone was when a couple of genin were picking on a young girl about his age."

Smiling the Hokage looked back over at Naruto. "I am very thankful that you see him that way."

After a long pause Atsumu, who was looking at Naruto with what seemed like admiration, finally broke the silence. "Well, Hokage-sama, I must go, there are others that need healing. If the boy ever needs medical treatment bring him directly to me, I will gladly heal him."

Nodding the Hokage sat down in a chair next to the bed occupied by the young boy. It was amazing, even after all that he had been through the boy seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Please R&R. Reviews make me more willing to write and will decrease the distance between updates.


	2. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto_

"Normal speak"

'_Thought'_

"**Demon Speak"**

'_**Demon Speak'**_ (Note, Naruto cannot hear this)

--

**Will of Fire**

By Pyxl Myxr

Chapter 1: The Demon I Possess

It was six in the morning but unlike most days in Konoha there was little activity. The ground all over the village was covered with discarded bottles and other pieces of trash that during the celebration were just dropped on the ground. The previous night had been the three year anniversary of the death of the Yondaime Hokage. Every year, on that night a festival was held to honor his death. That was not the only reason of the festival though. It was also to celebrate the defeat of the demon fox, Kyuubi. Yes, defeat of the demon fox, not death. While what is written in history books and taught in class was that the Yondaime Hokage gave his life to kill the Kyuubi, it is a lie. The truth is known by few, and even fewer accept it. It was 3 years ago, the happiest, and at the same time, the saddest day that Konoha had ever experienced.

_Flashback: 3 years 1 day ago, October 10_

The village of Konoha lay in ruins—the aftermath of the Kyuubi attack. Slowly people started emerging from the caves lain in Hokage Mountain. Everyone was celebrating the defeat of the demon fox; everyone but the one who had defeated. His heart was heavy, knowing what probably would happen in the next few years. Currently he was in a clearing just inside of the village walls. His bright blue eyes did not contain any of their usual happiness or care-free attitude as he gazed at a baby boy in his arms, sound asleep. The baby looked almost the same as him, the same blond hair, and the same bright blue eyes. The only differences were the six birthmarks on his face, three lining each cheek, and the seal barely visible on his stomach that was slowly fading.

The man looked up at the others in the clearing with him; there were three people, two older, and two younger than him. The oldest one seemed to be the most affected by the situation. His eyes betrayed his serious and calm face showing multiple emotions, including pride, sorrow, and… regret? Of course, regret that he couldn't have been the one to perform the jutsu; that he wasn't going to be the one who was to die.

The second oldest stood still, barely even blinking. Anyone who had known this man would have automatically noticed the change from his normal attitude and the young man certainly noticed it, being his student. He never seemed this serious, always with a smile, but here he was any trace of happiness absent from his features. The second youngest one was the son of the White Fang, one of the most famous shinobi that Konoha had had. He was, a man who had sacrificed mission success to save his comrades and ended up committing suicide after being shunned even by the ones he had saved. What made this young man stand out was that he had become a Jounin at a very young age. He also happened to be the blond haired mans only remaining student. The youngest was possibly, even more of a prodigy. Obtaining mastery of his clan's kekkai-genkai at only the age of 8 he had managed to become Anbu captain of his own squad at only 13, a common age for a young shinobi to just graduate from the academy.

There weren't only people in the clearing though; in addition to them there was a gigantic toad silently staring at the baby. This toad was unique, though, in addition to his size. He wore a giant sword, about the size of one of the trees that lined the clearing on his right hip. He also wore a shirt, kind of like a short trench coat. Surprisingly he was the first to speak, breaking the tense silence that had fallen over the clearing a few minutes earlier. "Minato, it seems that we will not be able to share sake after all." Pausing he continued, "Do you need anything else from me? I have many wounds to tend to and I wish to see my family."

Looking up the blue eyed blond haired man spoke with a nod, "Yes Gamabunta, thank you for your help."

Grinning Gamabunta nodded, "No thanks are necessary, I am honored to have fought along side with you."

As Gamabunta poofed out of existence Minato faced the oldest member of the group. "Sarutobi, please try to make it so the boy is seen as a hero. Sadly the villagers will probably see him as the demon fox itself and not its container. If this should happen, please allow him to be taken out of the village for a while to be trained." Nodding Sarutobi gulped, sadness had overwhelmed all other emotions. His face lost the calm and collected look it had held recently and was replaced with grief. Minato turned to face his student, examining his only visible eye for any emotion. There it was; the smallest hint of sadness, that none but the most experienced shinobi would catch. Smiling slightly he addressed the young man. "Kakashi, I know I've rarely said this but I'm very proud of you. You have the skill and determination of a very strong shinobi. This village is lucky to have you among its ranks. The young Hokage turned to the youngest of the group. "Itachi, I know that you have been brought up to become a shinobi from a young age, but that doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't have any childhood. I want you to spend time with Naruto, as often as you can, play with him, and protect him. If the dreaded day should come where he is almost killed, I want you to take him out of the village for a while and teach him so he can protect himself. And when he is old enough, take him to Kyoko Hyuuga and her husband. Tell them to give _it_ to him." Finally Minato looked to his sensei, bitter tears forming in his eyes.. "Jiraya, you were like a father to me, but if you corrupt my son in any way, I will carve my way out of the Shinigami's stomach and haunt for the rest of your life!"

Minato looked towards the sky, his tears threatening to fall from his face. "I do not have much time left." Looking down to the boy in his arms he felt his heart clench up in misery, the seal on the boy's stomach now almost wasn't even visible. "Naruto, you have inherited my will of fire and with it, in time, my power. I wish so much that I could be there to watch you grow up. I love you, son." Looking at his son one last time a lone tear fell onto the baby boy's exposed stomach before Minato vanished in a burst of light, Sarutobi reaching over to catch young Naruto. Nobody even noticed that the tear seemed to have been absorbed into the seal.

_End Flashback_

Sarutobi was broken out of his thoughts when a groan emitted from the boy just behind him. After surveying him for a moment he decided that Naruto wasn't waking up just yet, and returned his attention back out the window, surveying the cleanup of the village that had just started. If only he knew what was going on in the mind of the boy, less than three feet from him.

_Naruto's Mindscape_

'_Ugh, what happened? Where am I?'_ Sitting up Naruto blinked several times before his eyes finally got used to the lack of light. As his eyes became accustomed to the dark details of his surroundings became more pronounced. There was a thin layer of water on the ground that seemed to becoming from pipes that lined the walls and ceilings. The water, however, didn't seem to make his clothes wet or any part of his body wet for that matter. He could hear a faint rumbling, like a distant earthquake, coming from farther along the corridor. Standing he started walking towards the sound, every part of his conscious screaming for him not to, but his body going anyway. Finally after traveling for what seemed like ages he entered a large room. Most of the room was in shadow, but from what he could make out, there seemed to be several bars rising up from the ground to the ceiling, a soft but powerful orange glow partially visible from behind them. Mesmerized by the light, he slowly stepped forward until he was just outside what he now realized was a cage.

"**Welcome kid. I've been wanting to meet you."**

Jumping slightly Naruto looked around the room trying to find the source of the voice. Shaking he called out, "Who are you? Where are you?" Looking back at the cage, Naruto was surprised to find a mass of some weird reddish-orange substance accumulating in the center of it. He was even more surprised when this substance started taking the shape of a gigantic nine-tailed fox. As the substance got closer to its final shape it started changing. Fur started appearing along with eyes, a nose, gigantic teeth and ears.

Baring its fangs the gigantic fox spoke, **"I am the ninth and strongest of the biju, Kyuubi no Kitsune."**

Now shaking uncontrollably Naruto barely managed to get his next question. "B-but the F-f-fourth Hokage killed y-you didn't h-he?"

"**Bwahahaha! Kill me? No I cannot be killed. He merely sealed me inside of a body." **Seeming to notice Naruto's shaking the fox frowned. **"You have no reason to fear me. Even if I could I wouldn't. I wish to help you."**

Slowly calming down Naruto gazed into the eyes of the fox, but didn't see the hate and malice he had expected but sincerity and honesty. "Why do you want to help me?"

"**I have seen the way your own kind have treated you. Even within demons, the most horrible criminal is treated better than you have been…" **After a long pause the fox spoke again, **"Do you have a dream kid?"**

Nodding, Naruto answered excitedly, "Yup! I wish to become the Hokage! Then everyone will respect and look up to me!"

"**You don't wish to kill them?"**

"No! If I did that I would be no better than them."

Giving a short laugh the Kyuubi grinned. **"Heh, my respect has just gone up for you kid. Very well, if you are ever in need of my power, just call upon me with your mind. Now, its time for you to go back to the real world; the one you call 'ojiisan' is worried about you."**

_Exit Mindscape_

Opening his eyes Naruto immediately shut them again wincing at the sudden pain. His whole body was sore from the previous night's events, but even that was pleasurable to what he felt now. 'My head feels like its going to explode' Barely being able to form a complete thought he just lay there, willing the pain to disappear. He was considerable surprised when as soon as he wished it would end the pain dramatically lessened. He was even more surprised when he was spoken to.

"**Kid I can lessen the pain partially, but you will still have to cope with some."**

'_Kyuubi? Why is this happening to me?'_

'_**For a Kekkei-Genkai **_(blood limit)_** to show this early… it's unheard of. I must examine it; meanwhile, he doesn't need to know.' **_**"I'm not sure; I'm trying to figure it out. I'll contact you when I understand."**

'_Alright, thanks Kyuubi.'_ Opening his eyes again, he blinked several time, allowing them to get used the bright light. Surveying his surroundings he was surprised to find himself in the hospital. Previously they had never let him in, despite the severity of his wounds. He was even more surprised, though, to find that he wasn't alone in the room. Upon first seeing the other occupant he twitched slightly in fear, before relaxing. The other occupant happened to be one of the very few people he trusted; none other than the Third Hokage, currently staring idly out of the window. Opening his mouth, Naruto attempted to address the Third but found it difficult to speak. Finally after about a minute a single word was voiced. "Ojiisan." 


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto_

"Normal speak"

'_Thought'_

"**Demon Speak"**

'_**Demon Thought'**_ (Note, Naruto cannot hear this)

--

**Will of Fire**

By Pyxl Myxr

Chapter 2: Heading Out

"Ojiisan."

Eyes widening the Sandaime spun around. "Naruto? You're awake!"

Naruto opened his mouth as if about to speak, but closed it again shortly after.

Smiling sadly the Sandaime locked eyes with Naruto, looking for the emotions he was feeling. Pain, yes he was expecting that, though he shouldn't have been considering Naruto's age. No three year-old should be showing that type of deep emotional and physical pain. Now confusion, that was unexpected. He supposed that possibly finding oneself in a place never before allowed in would cause confusion, but not like this. Even as they stared it was easy for Sarutobi to tell Naruto was thinking deeply.

Suddenly Naruto's eyes flashed to sadness. The old Hokage was bout to question this when Naruto finally spoke. "When will I be able to leave the hospital? I dislike this place."

Judging by the expression on Naruto's face it was easy to tell that it was very difficult to speak. Wincing at this Sarutobi turned to look out of the window, sorrow lining his face. "It's not safe for you to stay in the village any longer, Naruto; at least not until you can defend yourself. Thus I am assigning you a guardian. I'll send him by later to meet you and give you more information on the trip you'll be going on. Now rest, it's obvious that you have yet to fully recover."

As the Hokage said this last part Naruto's eyes began to close and before long, his breathing was slow and steady, a sign of sleep. Sighing the old man slowly walked towards the door. Pausing as he closed the door, he spoke in a whisper. "Kakashi, I'll trust that you will protect him as long as he is in here. Allow only me and Itachi to enter. As you heard, he needs no medical attention so automatically assume that anyone there to 'check up' on him is there to kill him.

Fully closing the door, Sarutobi rubbed his eyes. He hadn't gotten any sleep the previous night as he was watching over the boy, hoping that he would wake from his slumber. It was sad that Naruto was going to have to leave the village for a while for his own safety. He might not even be safe out there, though. Despite all of the power the Hokage had, there were still some people who would disobey orders. He was sure that there would be an assassination attempt on Naruto while he was away. That's why it was Jiraya who was accompanying him. The man wouldn't be easily defeated even by Elite Jounins or Anbu. Stepping out of the hospital the old Hokage slowly walked towards his office, in no rush to get back to the tedious paperwork.

After a short walk of only about two minutes he had arrived. _'Pity the hospital isn't farther away from the tower.'_ Stepping into his office he sat down in the large chair behind his desk. Calling in an Anbu member he yawned. "Bring Itachi to me please." Nodding the Anbu shushined away. Barely five seconds later a young weasel-masked Anbu appeared.

"You called Hokage-sama?"

The old Hokage looked down, sadness etched in his face, making him seem even older. After a short pause he began, "As you know, Naruto was attacked, again. This time he was nearly killed." Itachi stood still with a calm blank face. Taking a deep breath the weathered Hokage sighed, seemingly not wanting to say what he had to. "Its time that we do what Minato asked; Naruto needs to be taken away from the village. Although I wish he could grow up with kids his own age, his safety is what matters most right now. The trip will be just under nine years so he will be able to back in time for the genin exams of his age group."

Nodding Itachi shifted his stance, seeming almost uncomfortable. "What about my clan? They are getting restless, I'm afraid soon they will try a Coup d'état. And they won't support me training the boy, many hate him with a passion."

Sarutobi gravely nodded, taking in the information. "I'm afraid that if this continues they will have to be _taken care of_."

A moment of silence ensued as the meaning of the previous sentence sunk in. "Sir, if it does become necessary to use such drastic measures, I would like to be the one to do it."

"Are you sure?" Itachi nodded. "Very well, I will contact you if the time comes. As for the meantime, you should visit Naruto, without your mask."

"Where is he?" Itachi asked as he slipped his mask of his face.

"The hospital. Though it is unnecessary for him to stay there, it is a secure area and he shouldn't be attacked. Nonetheless, I have Kakashi guarding the door, just in case."

"Nodding Itachi walked towards the door grabbing the knob. Glancing back he looked at the Hokage's face. "How much does he know?"

"About the trip? Nothing except that he is taking one." Noticing the look on the young Anbu captain's face he realized that that wasn't the real question he was asked. "Oh. Nothing as far as I'm aware of. The biggest clue I think would be that he's been called a demon."

Nodding once again, Itachi opened the door, and walked out, his face completely serious, just as it always was. Only a really experienced shinobi would have been able to discern a look of anger on the Uchiha's normally stoic face. Walking slowly he exited the building, contemplating what he should tell Naruto. He was allowed, being a sensei of the boy, and authorized by the Third Hokage, to Naruto about the beast that he contained, but he wondered if he should. _'If he finds out on his own, he might see that as a betrayal that he wasn't told, but if I tell him at this young age, he might believe that he is the demon itself.'_ Before he realized it Itachi was standing outside the hospital. Entering he headed over to the receptionist. "What room is Naruto Uzumaki in?"

Narrowing her eyes, the lady spoke each word, laced with venom, "As far as I know that _demon_ is not allowed in this hospital."

Before he could perform a jutsu on the unsuspecting lady he heard another voice speak containing no malice in the words. "Follow me, I'll show you to his room." Looking over at the man Itachi nodded, seeing the sincere and kind look on his face. Needless to say he was surprised when that look changed to disgust as the man looked back at the receptionist. "Consider yourself fired." Turning away the man started walking down one of the hallways grumbling under his breath. _"Second time within twenty-four hours, stupid biased— _here we are"

Thanking the man Itachi entered the room, immediately noticing Kakashi's presence. Without looking at him he headed over towards the bed staring intently at the sleeping boy's face. "Thank you, for watching over him Kakashi." Slowly he reached his hand out poking the kid in the arm. "Oi, Gaki, wake up!"

Groaning Naruto drowsily opened his eyes, looking around the room. Upon noticing Itachi he jumped, quickly crawling out of the bed on the opposite side where the toad hermit sat fear, easily distinguishable in his eyes. **"Kid, calm down, he means you no harm, if he meant to kill you he could have done it without waking you up."**

Itachi was confused. So confused in fact he allowed one of his eyebrows to raise. One second the boy across from him looked as if he was scared to death and the next the fear was completely gone a look of recognition on his face.

"So you're going to be my teacher."

"Yeah, why did—"

"I find it hard to trust people." At this Itachi winced. The short statement really said a lot about how Naruto's life is. "So far all I trust is Ojiisan and... well, you."

'_This kid is way to mature for his age. _Why do you trust me? You've just met me."

"Ojiisan trusts you."

'_His trust for the Hokage… It's that powerful. He has total belief in what the Sandaime says._ Well as you know I am going to be you teacher until you are strong enough to become a genin. I am going to take you out of Konoha and teach you how to defend yourself, so you will no longer need to fear the villagers, or shinobi."

At this Naruto's face burst into a grin. "I'm going to become a ninja like Ojiisan?!"

Allowing himself to smile at the grin on Naruto's face he nodded. "Yes, but not as powerful." Seeing a look of confusion come over Naruto's face, he explained, "We will be gone only for nine years. To obtain the level of power that the Sandaime has will take many more years for you to accomplish."

"Ojiisan is really that strong?" asked Naruto not so much doubting Sarutobi's power as questioning the time that it would take to obtain it.

"Yes. Now about your training: For the first three years we are going to be focusing solely on Chakra Control and basic Taijutsu. Then depending on how far you've progressed I'm going to take you to a close personal friend of mine. She is one of the most experienced shinobi in chakra control possibly the best at it. If not she is a close second behind Tsunade-sama. Her husband is stronger in and more experienced with taijutsu and will be teaching you more advanced forms, but will mostly help you develop your own. "

"Then what will you be doing, sensei?"

"I will be training you Ninjutsu. _And if you're lucky element manipulation. _Now what kind of supplies do you have to bring with you?"

Looking downcast Naruto replied. "I don't have anything. No stores will allow me in."

Itachi's face remained emotionless, outward composure unchanged but on the inside he was practically shaking with fury. _'I don't see how Hokage-sama has any faith left in the villagers, or even the shinobi of this village. To refuse someone service over something they had absolutely no control over, it sickens me. _Well that won't do." Getting up he headed for the door. Noticing that Naruto was not following he turned. "Come on. We've got a lot to buy, and then we'll go and see the old man. How about that?"

Nodding, Naruto enthusiastically followed.Once they were out of the hospital, Naruto sighed, as if a burden was suddenly taken off him.

Itachi noticed this but decided not to comment. _'What could have happened to cause someone to feel so relieved to be out of a place that is supposed to make you feel better?'_ The pair walked in silence for a while, each absorbed in their own thoughts. As they walked Itachi took notice of the glares of hatred, and loathing that Naruto received occasionally returning some of his own, scaring the crap out of the unfortunate soul on the receiving side. It was starting to tick him off. None of these people had ever even tried to talk and get to know Naruto and yet they treated him as if he had committed a terrible crime. Naruto, however seemed unfazed by the glares, if he had even noticed them, he barely even seemed to know where he was going while following the Uchiha. After about five minutes Itachi stopped, Naruto coming out of his trance just barely in time to avoid colliding with his new sensei. "We're here." He headed towards the store glancing back at Naruto as he opened the door but stopped when he saw the look on Naruto's face. "What's wrong" he asked already knowing the answer.

"This place was one of the worst. When I entered I was immediately attacked by every employee in the store, including the manager, and even some of the customers. The manager even went so far as to say 'Whatever you hit the demon with you keep free of charge!'"

Biting his own lip was all Itachi could do to contain his rage. _'I had expected it to be him just being thrown out, but to be attacked just for entering the store? _Well, this time you don't have to worry about it. I'm here; I won't let them harm a hair on your head."

Nodding Naruto took a deep breath closing his eyes and holding it in for a second before releasing it and stepping through the open door, Itachi right being him. As soon as Naruto's foot set down inside the store the lady at the counter had a katana in her hand as she rushed towards him swinging it at his head only for it to be stopped by a kunai. Looking up she saw the holder of the kunai was none other than the prodigy of the Uchiha clan, Itachi.

After a second he spoke, the venom in his voice accentuated by the killing intent he was releasing into the store at all but Naruto. "And just what would you be doing attacking a helpless three year-old?" The lady did not reply, well, could not reply. The killing intent rolling of Itachi in waves was practically as strong as the Sandaime's had been the previous night most directed at the lady, thus causing her to freeze in fear. Her body and lungs felt compressed and she fought to breath. Only when she had fainted from a lack of oxygen did Itachi lower his killing intent, allowing her to breath once more.

Looking up from her fainted form he picked up the katana that lay on the floor. It had been crafted very well, perfectly balanced, made out of a strong and dense but light material. The edge, he realized was sharper than even some of the most expensive kunai. Glanced around the room he turned his attention to a man a little behind the counter in a doorway and spoke, all of the anger still present in his voice but no longer affected by killing intent. "You don't mind if I take this as payment for your employee's actions, do you?" Though the phrase was worded as a question the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice made it clear that it was more of a statement that he was going to take the katana, than a question. Nevertheless, the manager nodded dumbly before sitting down behind the counter preparing to take purchases as the lady no longer could.

Satisfied Itachi looked back down at Naruto. A look of fear was on his face still but relief was also present. "Let's go."

For a while Naruto followed Itachi as he picked up different items, occasionally asking about their different uses. Finally after about half an hour they left the store, Naruto newly equipped with some weapons and weights. The weights were rather light, considering Naruto's age and weight but he had add-ons for when these became too light. His appearance had now changed also. No longer did he wear the bright orange and blue jumpsuit he was always seen wearing. His pants, now black, ended just above his ankles fitting loosely to allow easy movement but tight enough to ensure that they didn't get in the way. In addition, he wore a black t-shirt and ninja sandals as well as a vest. The vest was similar to the ones that Jounin wore the difference being that his was black. However, he couldn't completely get rid of the beautiful color that was orange, of course, so he opted to have and orange spiral on the back of the vest. Along with the new vest his leg was now occupied by a kunai holder, packed with some of his recently bought kunai and shuriken. In addition he also wore a belt.

This belt, though was not designed for the purpose of holding the user's pants up, it was much more important. At first glance the belt seemed ordinary but upon closer inspection kanji characters were visible, sewn into the material. There were several of them on the front, all meaning the same thing: Seal. The characters were much more than decoration, each one could actually be used to, as the name suggests, seal an item into the belt. The item could then be retrieved by smearing blood across the kanji while channeling chakra into it. Also as a precaution it would only work with the blood and chakra of the first person to use the belt. Currently only three of the seven spots were being used, a scroll being sealed into each one. Though the belt was useful it had limited space and could only seal one object into each kanji. A scroll, however, could have multiple things sealed into it making it much easier to carry.

Happy with their progress they made their way to the Hokage tower to say goodbye, finally ready to leave the village. It took them longer to reach the tower than it normally would due to the weights Naruto was wearing hindering their progress. Upon arriving they headed up the stairs to the Sandaime's office. Naruto not being one to be patient barged into the room "Ojiisan!"

Said old man, looked up from his paperwork, relieved for a distraction. His face broke into a smile at the sight of Naruto. "Naruto! You look different! Excited for your trip?"

"You bet old man!" said Naruto laughing. "I'll be able to beat you when I get back, you better count on it!"

Smiling at the young boy's antics Itachi looked at the Hokage. "We'll be back in nine years, just in time for the genin exams. I'll send periodic ravens to report on his progress." Turning to Naruto he said, "Meet me at the gate, and we'll head out."

Sarutobi turned back to Naruto as Itachi left the room. "Now, I've got a present for you. Here." He said as he handed Naruto a scroll. "Don't open it until you're outside the village, ok?"

Smiling Naruto wiped tears from his eyes before latching onto the Sandaime in a fierce hug. "Thanks Ojiisan." Turning without another word he sprinted out of the tower, towards the gate. Soon he reached it and stood by his new sensei.

"Alright, lets go."

"Ne, sensei? What are you going to teach me first?!"

"I'm going to teach you tree climbing."

--


	4. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto_

"Normal speak"

'_Thought'_

"**Demon Speak"**

'_**Demon Thought'**_ (Note, Naruto cannot hear this)

Thanks to S-Wanderer999 and anyone else who sent a review.

--

**Will of Fire**

By Pyxl Myxr

Chapter 3: Kekkei-Genkai and Friend

"He he, Itachi-nii is so gonna get it." It had almost been three years since Naruto had left Konoha, three years since he had found out about the demon sealed inside of him and spoken to it, and three years since he had been able to reduce the use of his mask; yes even at three he had created a mask to hide his emotions. The mask that he had created back then had actually served two purposes, though, contrary to popular belief. The first was to show the ones that had attacked him, that relished in his pain, that they could not truly hurt him, or crush his spirit. The second, and much more important, one was to show himself that his attackers couldn't hurt him. He had, of course, felt the pain and sadness of being alone consuming him, overtaking his mind, threatening to break his strong will and hated it. So much so that he went out of his way to quell the sadness or pain of other people, even the ones that had caused his own. He didn't see it much, the majority of people in the village were happy, but when he did he always tried to comfort them, despite fear he may have felt for this particular person. Sadly, most of the time, they shunned him, refusing his help and maybe even beating him before walking away, somehow feeling better after the act. In fact this happened every single time but one.

_Flashback 4 years ago, 5 days before the Konoha Festival_

Naruto had just received a beating, one of the worst he had felt. Earlier in the day he had passed by the ninja academy and had seen some of the students practicing throwing kunai and shuriken. He had stood there and watched, entranced by the sight, of course to a young boy whose greatest hero was a ninja; he couldn't help but think it was cool. Finally he left deciding to try and buy a few of the weapons with some money that the old man of a Hokage had given him. Soon he had made it to the market district of the village and began to search for a store selling the items. Sadly it was late enough in the day for other villagers to be shopping and he received many glares. He looked around just to notice a look of pure hate directed toward him so he lowered his head and continued on his way. After a little while he would to raise it up again only to see another glare and repeat the process.

Finally he had found a store that seemed to be selling the weapons. As soon as he stepped in though he had been attacked by everyone in the store, including the customers! "Whatever you hit the demon with you keep free of charge!" Though this statement had not been a physical attack, the pain from it had been the worst he had felt. He realized that people hated him enough to give away rather expensive merchandise for free if it was going to be used to harm him. He couldn't understand it, as far as he knew he had done nothing to these people and yet here they were, attacking him as if he had killed someone they had loved. Finally he got up enough strength to get out of the store and limp away, thankfully not pursued. And that's how he was found now, slowly limping through a park as if looking for something. Finally he stopped in front of an old oak tree and sat down, leaning up against it and closing his eyes.

No more than thirty seconds later though, he opened his eyes to the sound of laughter. Now this wasn't an uncommon sound in itself, but it wasn't the only thing he was able to hear. Very faintly, just barely audible under all of the laughter was a slight sobbing. Instantly Naruto was standing, his bruises and cuts forgotten. He peeked around the tree that he had been leaning against, only to see about seven meters away, a group of three laughing boys standing over a young girl who was crying with her head down. Instantly Naruto felt his anger rise and within a second he took off slamming his fist into one of the boy's faces, knocking him to the ground. Of course not even being two this didn't really hurt the boy, just stunned him and the others enough to switch their attention away from the girl.

They looked at him in disbelief for a few seconds before they recognized him. He was the ones that their parents had called the demon. "Heh, looks like the demon wants to play." And they started punching him and kicking him all the while laughing and insulting him while he stood there not uttering a word or letting a gasp of pain escape his lips. Every time they knocked him down, he stood up, only to be knocked back to the ground.

He rolled over, trying to muster the strength to stand up again, but was unable to grasp it. The boy's seeing this weakness took advantage of it stomping on his body. He took each hit with a wince, feeling his bones creaking, knowing that even his unusually strong body would not be able to last much longer. Finally it happened. One of the boys had slammed their foot down onto his forearm rather hard and was rewarded with a large crack. Finally a moan escaped Naruto's lips, the boys had won, they had made him admit his pain to them, it was just as much as admitting their superiority to him but it wasn't enough, they wanted more. The wanted him to beg, for forgiveness, to fall on his knees and bow to them. They were just about to continue when they heard a shriek from behind them. "Stop it!" Turning around they saw the girl that they had been picking on earlier. Here she was the girl always picked on for being overly kind and shy, with a look of pure rage on her face. Her hair was whipping around as chakra began to gather near her. The sight was enough to make the boys run in terror from the girl hoping that she wouldn't start attacking them with her clan's famous techniques.

As soon as they left the chakra abruptly disappeared and she ran over to the boy who had stood up for her as no one had before. "Are you ok? You need to get to the hospital!" He stared up at her with surprised eyes. Someone was actually genuinely worried about his well being. The girl had started crying and slowly he reached forward with his hand wiping away the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Why are you crying?"

Finally she got to hear her savior's voice. It was calm and soft, bringing warmth to her heart. Finally she looked up into his eyes. For a second she couldn't speak. His eyes had seemed the most beautiful things she had ever seen. Swallowing slightly she mustered up the courage to speak. "Y-you were h-hurt pr-pretty badly. I w-was worried."

Slowly, her words registered with the boy and a giant smile erupted on his face. "I'm fine. It'd take more than that to seriously injure me."

The girl was unable to speak for a second time. The smile on his face had captured her attention. Somehow, it was even more beautiful than his eyes. Infectious too, it seemed, as she suddenly giggled and smiled herself a blush evident on her face. "What's your name?"

At this his smile had impossibly become even bigger. "Uzumaki Naruto! What's yours?"

"Hyuuga Hinata."

"Well, Hinata-chan, would you like to be my friend?"

Quickly she nodded, her face turning a deeper shade of red at her new nickname.

The two spent the rest of the day together playing and laughing before they finally had to part, making a promise that they would always look out for each other.

Silently a young man stepped out of the shadows into the clearing the kids had just occupied. _'The boy is clearly no demon. Anyone who would take the time to watch him or get to know him would easily notice that,'_ he thought before walking away.

_End Flashback_

Over the three years Naruto had been gone he had changed quite a bit. The training he had gone through had helped strengthen him immensely. He of course opened the scroll that he had received from the Hokage right after they left the village, and Itachi seeing the Jutsu opted to teach it to Naruto before anything else. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu had a special trait, that whenever one of the clones were dispelled its knowledge, and experience in some aspects, were transferred to the user. Seeing that though the Jutsu required a lot of chakra, Naruto would be able to use it because of his high reserves quick pace the refilled, Itachi had no fears of Naruto dieing because he was unable to produce the chakra required. When Naruto first tried it, though, they were disappointed when only three clones appeared before Naruto was worn out. Sure Naruto wasn't barely three but his chakra reserves were near low Jounin level and should have been enough to easily create ten clones, if not more. The only problem, Itachi realized, was that Naruto's control was so bad that the majority of chakra he put into the technique was wasted completely dispersing in the air.

So, for the first year he had focused solely on chakra control using clones to speed up the process, relying on weights to increase his stamina and strength, getting him ready for Taijutsu. The results were immediate. Each day, Naruto was able to call upon more and more clones, due to his increasing chakra reserves and control. Before he was even finished with the tree climbing exercise he was already able to summon twenty clones and still do the exercise for five hours each before collapsing from exhaustion. After tree climbing he rapidly completed water walking and moved onto combining different exercises, like holding a kunai by the point on his finger while running up and down a tree or keeping a leaf from falling off his nose while doing hand stands on the water. By the end of the first year Naruto had learned just about all he could about chakra control from Itachi due to the help from the clones, so they moved on to Taijutsu.

The first few months were spent with Itachi teaching Naruto the basic academy taijutsu. After Naruto had learned a stance or move, he then practiced in a light sparring match, either with a clone of himself or with Itachi. They would fight a little, then take a break, during which the young Uchiha gave Naruto some tips on how to improve his form, correcting him on everything from foot placement to how he moved. After that Itachi would leave Naruto alone to work on his own, where he would often creating a whole bunch of Kage Bunshin to spar with. The rest of the time Itachi had shown Naruto some more yet still relatively basic forms, including part of the Uchiha from. Soon, in Naruto's free time he could be seen sparing another clone while upside down using chakra to hang from a branch or having a gigantic brawl on top of a lake.

And that's how his first three years were spent. Of course, the three years didn't only consist of training. Itachi, deciding to go with the deceased fourth hokage's advice spent time playing various games with Naruto, most of which secretly increased key traits for a ninja to survive. So that's how the nickname 'Itachi-nii' emerged and was the reason than Naruto was currently setting up a trap. The trap was very well set up. As soon as his self-proclaimed brother stepped through the door he would find himself unable to move as ropes wrapped around his arms and legs. This wasn't enough, though. Next a whole bunch of blunted kunai would be released and fly at the location of his bound captive. It was another game that they played. Trap-setting was very important skill for a ninja

The trap was done and now all Naruto had to do was sit back and wait for Itachi to return. Closing his eyes he abruptly found himself in a sewer. One he had not visited in three years. Even though he had only been there once he immediately recognized where he was – inside his mind.

_Enter Mindscape_

Slowly he walked toward the room he knew held the Kyuubi. _'I wonder why I'm here…'_

Upon entering the room he automatically noticed some changes. Though the rest of his mind was a sewer he found this room seemed to have been changed into a forest, woven tree branches now serving as a cage instead of bars. **"Welcome kid."**

"Hey Kyuubi, so why am I here?"

"**Heh, you've changed. Anyway, do you remember that headache you had three years ago. I found out what caused it."**

"Really? What was it?"

"**It was caused by a mutation in the cells of your eyes causing a secondary state to appear."**

"So I have a kekkei-genkai?"

"**Yeah, I'm Surprised that you knew what I was talking about."**

"Meh, I was talking to Itachi-nii in my free time and asked what a kekkei-genkai was, and he explained it almost exactly how you described it."

"**And you remembered it?"**

"Just because I smile all the time and sometimes barge into things without thinking doesn't mean I'm stupid."

"**Ah, sorry kid. Anyway onto your kekkei-genkai. Currently it doesn't have a name, that will be up to you to decide."**

"Wait, if I received this from my parents, shouldn't it have a name."

"**Well that's the thing. It wasn't from your parents. By having me in your body, my chakra has been circulating around, slowly filtering into your own coils. These coils go everywhere within your including your eyes. It seems that some of my chakra had been, from my sealing, filtering into your eyes slowly changing the chemical structure. Finally once this was done, a physical mutation was needed to be able to switch between the eyes. This had to happen rapidly otherwise you would have lost your sight. Thus, the headache you had."**

"But if I had the headache three years ago, doesn't that mean that I would have been able to access the secondary state? I'm sure that my eyes have received chakra."

"**You're right, your eyes have received chakra, but not enough to activate the affect. In addition, as soon as the kekkei-genkai appeared I sealed it away, which caused the pain to recede. I wasn't sure if it was malicious and it was possible that using it could have somehow killed you."**

"Oh, so what does it do?"

"**That I'm going to leave you to find out for yourself. If you knew all of the things your kekkei-genkai could do right off the bat, you might become reliant on it, like those of the Hyuuga and most of the Uchiha clan. The only exception to that one that I've seen being you Sensei. It's better to have balanced out skills so that if somehow, one of your abilities is sealed, you will be able to cope. Now, enough talk, why don't you try it out?"**

Nodding Naruto closed his eyes and opened them to reveal his hotel room.

_Exit Mindscape_

He quickly looked around, noticing everything was still in it's proper place and his trap had yet to be sprung.

"**You better close your eyes before trying to activate it."**

Nodding once again he closed his eyes before slowly channeling chakra into his eyes. Suddenly his eyelids were replaced with his hotel room. Reaching up to feel his face he felt his eyes were still closed. He was about to lower his hand when he noticed something odd about it. He could see his hand but it seemed to be covered by something. There was an orange substance creating a thin layer around his hand while a thicker layer of a blue substance seemed to be containing it. _'My eyes… They see chakra?!'_

"**You got it kid, quite fast if I do say so myself. As a reward I'll give you a bit of info. If you look around, you can see that just about everything has some chakra in it, this is very important. In addition to your eyes being able to see chakra at your eye's current state, you also have limited control over it. Meaning, you can take chakra from your surroundings and either use it for a technique or use it to refill your own supply."**

'_Wait, you said at my eye's current state, does that mean that my kekkei-genkai evolves like the Itachi-nii's Sharingan?'_

"**Not quite, while more abilities are unlocked and the one's you currently have increase in potential, your eyes physical appearance will not change any more than they already have."**

'_Oh, so my eyes aren't their natural blue color right now? What do they look like?'_

"**Why don't you go look for yourself?"**

Naruto walked over to the mirror that was over the dresser in the hotel room and looked at it. _'Why can't I see anything in the mirror?'_

"**He he, your eyes are still closed. You can open them by the way; I only wanted you to close them so you would see the change when you activated them."**

'_Why can't I see in the mirror when I can see almost everything else?'_ Naruto asked as he opened his eyes.

"**Because, when your eyes are closed, you're not really seeing the objects, you're seeing the absence of chakra. I'm guessing you didn't notice, but everything was in grey except the chakra."**

'_Oh, _Whoa" Naruto finally caught his first glimpse of his eyes, and it was surprising to say the least. No longer were his eyes cerulean blue with black pupils, they were golden, with a blue pupil in the middle. Looking closely, he could see blue entrails spreading out from the pupil all the way through the iris to create a blue ring outlining it.

"**It seems like you like it.** **I'll admit, I was a bit surprised when I found out myself. Considering my chakra color, I had expected them to be red or orange."**

'_Yeah me too…. Not like I'm going to complain though, red eyes would have made me look a little scary, kind of like Itachi-nii."_ Suddenly Naruto saw something out of the corner of his eye, a chakra signature.

"**Seems like your sensei coming back."**

'_Oh! My trap!'_ Quickly Naruto rushed back over to his bed crouching down behind it waiting for the Uchiha prodigy to appear. Just a second later, Itachi stepped through the door. The effect was instantaneous, although not exactly what Naruto had hoped for. The ropes attempting to bind Itachi fell to the floor slashed. Then the kunai were sent off. Itachi, however, being as unbinded as he was easily dodged all of the kunai but one. Opting to catch it an inch from hitting his hip.

"Darn it!"

"Don't be so upset Naruto, you're getting much better. One almost hit me." An evil grin suddenly appeared on Itachi's face. "But you remember what I said I'd do every time you fail don't you?"

Naruto paled. Now while Itachi's training was often hard, what Naruto was put through every time he failed was just brutal. Weight was almost always added to him, then he was chased by Itachi, who was constantly throwing, sharp and _VERY_ painful objects at him, until he collapsed from exhaustion.

"**RUN KID, RUN! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!"**


	5. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The poem at the beginning of this chapter is also not mine, all I changed was the word Christ to Kami to better fit the story._

"Normal Speak"

'_Thought'_

"**Demon Speak"**

'_**Demon Thought'**_ (Note, Naruto cannot hear this)

"**Shinigami Speak"**

'_**Shinigami Thought'**_ (Note, Naruto cannot hear this)

Poll: How should Naruto's kekkei-genkai affect him?

A: eyes slowly degrade to blindness, can only see if kekkei-genkai active.

B: chakra gotten is less powerful/potent until filtered into system

C: none

Votes:

A: 0

B: 13

C: 3

Well, it seems that B is just going to win out so the poll is over. Chakra gotten using Naruto's kekkai-genkai will be less powerful/potent until filtered into his system. Increase in his control over his kekkai-genkai along with extended use and it leveling up will decrease the gap between received chakra and produced chakra.

Blizzard of love asked: what sort of range can naruto use his kekkai genkai to and it sounds like that is a sage technique

I never really thought about it. I don't want his range to be too big or too small. I'm guessing that I'll have his range increase from just like any other part. It would probably start out somewhere around 5 meters, but I'm not sure how large it would get.

Datubaman: that's a good idea but I'm pretty much set on what his kekkai-genkai will do, and It almost seems like overkill. Naruto would probably use his kekkai-genkai in that situation about as much as he uses the Kyuubi's chakra, making him basically gain power without having to work at it at all.

Thanks for all of the reviews.

Here is Chapter 4, dedicated to: totalnarutofangirl85. Her enthusiasm in hoping that I would update soon got me to buckle down and finish up the chapter, as to not force people to wait too much more than they already have.

--

**Will of Fire**

By Pyxl Myxr

Chapter 4: Unexpected Return, Quick Departure

_We wear the mask that grins and lies,__  
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes—__  
This debt we pay to human guile;__  
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile.  
__And mouth with myriad subtleties._

_Why should the world be overwise,__  
In counting all our tears and sighs?__  
Nay, let them only see us, while  
We wear the mask._

_We smile, but, O great Kami, our cries  
To thee from tortured souls arise__  
We sing, but oh the clay is vile  
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;__  
But let the world dream otherwise  
We wear the mask._

_And my mask has shattered._

_Thump Thump… _ All Naruto was aware of was that he was running. He had no destination in mind, his mind not currently having the capacity. _Thump Thump… _ Fear, the only thing he could feel, not even pain could overcome it. _Thump Thump… _A blindingly bright flash of light suddenly occurred, so fast that it might have been said it never happened, if not for the blindness it caused. _Thump Thump…_ If not for his absence of sight he might have seen the his world fade into darkness as he collapsed, his body no longer able to move on, despite all of the training he had.

_Enter Mindscape_

Chaos, utter chaos engulfed where Naruto awoke to. He knew where he was only because it held the faintest resemblance to a place he had often visited in his sleep. About three years after Naruto left Konoha, his mind changed. No longer was his mind the damp sewer but a beautiful forest, resembling one, that He and Itachi had visited during their travels. Well, that's what it was. The forest was destroyed. Parts of the trunks of the trees were barely intact, and if they were, they were burned to a dark black. Fire, still present, covered the ground, creating impenetrable walls. Only two paths were open, one leading in the direction of the Kyuubi's cage, the other leading in a direction he had never gone before. It only took a second to come up with his decision. Cautiously he walked down the untouched path.

It was a short walk only about five minutes before he reached a clearing. Somehow, though the area all around it was burnt, the clearing was untouched by the flame. Naruto, however didn't notice this and looked around. Half disappointed, half relieved that there was nothing there. With a sigh he made to turn around when he saw something in the corner of his eye. Dark mass, if you could call it that; it seemed more like chakra than a solid object, began to accumulate in the center of the clearing. Terrified, but intrigued, he stared as the mass took shape of a man.

(Imagine this guy as if to speak like Agent Smith from the Matrix) **"Hello, Naruto. We finally meet."**

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"**Who am I? An interesting question. I have not really thought about it. I guess it could be said that I am you… Although that would not be entirely accurate. You see, I am more of a… physical form of your soul. As for how I know your name, I believe you already know the answer to that. I know your name just as the Kyuubi did. I reside in you just like him, with the exception of more freedom, and I can offer power just like him. The only difference between his, and my power would have to be that mine is more… permanent."**

"How can I trust you?"

"**It is for you to decide whether I am trustworthy or not. Like I said, I am a physical manifestation of your soul, and as such you should be able to execute control over me."**

"Why do you offer me power?"

'_**This kid is much smarter than I happened to give him credit for. **_**It is not that I am offering you my power, but that I am willing to show you how to unlock some of yours."**

"Why are you here?"

"**Again, another excellent question. It is rather peculiar, scenario. You see, something happened, that I would have to say no-one expected, or even knew about. You of course know that the Fourth Hokage sealed the Kyuubi into you, but there is something, that would seem insignificant, to anyone if they had actually witnessed it. Right before the body of the Yondaime disappeared, he shed a tear, one single tear, that had it of landed anywhere else it may have had no affect at all. However, this tear landed on your belly, right where the seal, holding the Kyuubi back is located. Instead of the tear running off of your skin like it normally would, the seal seemed to absorb it. This tear, turned out to be a key; a last protection given to you by the Fourth Hokage, even if it was subconscious on his part, in hopes that it would help you survive. The key was all that was needed to bring out me."**

"Then what are you? Not the tear right?"

"**You are correct, I am not the tear, but something of a fusion between your soul, and something that resided in the tear. As you know the Yondaime had to call upon a Shinigami in order to have the power to seal the Kyuubi. The disintegration of the Yondaime's body was caused by the Shinigami withdrawing it's spirit from his body. Since he had not disintegrated when he shed the tear, a small part of the Shinigami's spirit resided in it. This part of the spirit is what combined with your soul, and created me. For the lack of a better way to explain it, I am half you, and half Shinigami."**

"Nar…to, co… on. …aruto, come on …u need t… wake up."

"**It seems as if your sensei needs to speak to you. Then it is time for me to take my leave."**

"Wait! What's your name?"

"**You are not ready yet to hear my name, for within my name resides my power."**

"I see. When will I see you again?"

"**Sooner than you think. **_**Probably even sooner than I think.**_**"**

_Exit Mindscape_

"Good you're awake. I'm afraid that our current plans must be delayed. We need to head back to Konoha for a short time. Here wear this," he said, handing a black bandana to Naruto

Blearily eyed, Naruto placed the bandana on his head, covering his yellow hair as he looked around cautiously as he remembered what had happened before he fell unconscious. "What happened? Who was chasing me?"

"I'm sorry to say it Naruto, but the people that attacked us, the person that was chasing you were from my clan. They were Uchihas. One of them, was my best friend"

"What happened to him?"

A pause ensued. What could he tell Naruto? Surely not the truth, that he had killed his best friend? Naruto was only six for crying out loud. He may be a shinobi in training, but he didn't have to hear about death just yet. Yet sadly, the truth would be the best. "I… I had to kill him."

"Why? Didn't you say that comrades are the most important thing?"

"It was because, he was trying to hurt another of my comrades. He was trying to hurt you. Now, come on, we need to get to Konoha as soon as possible."

Naruto now had tears in his eyes, he was happier than he had been for a long time. Yet he was also sadder than he had been for a long time. Someone he considered his brother, loved like a brother, had had to kill his best friend in order to protect him. He felt unbelievably guilty, and unbelievably honored at the same time. Wiping dry his wet cheeks he looked at his brother, who was facing away from him. "Why do we need to head back to Konoha?"

Without turning his head, Itachi replied. "I need to speak to the Hokage, in person."

--

The trip back to Konoha was mostly uneventful. Neither Naruto or Itachi tried to talk much, Naruto's mind being on what the village would be like, and how he would be treated, and Itachi's being on what he was going to have to do. Despite the constant silence, Itachi seemed keener than ever to stuff Naruto with power, and thus was pushing him to the limits during the three day trip.

Finally, about halfway through the third day, Itachi spoke. "We're here."

Naruto looked up, and sure enough, the gigantic gates in Konoha were visible a short distance away. With their goal in sight, the two companions picked up speed, quickly closing the distance between them and the gate.

"Halt. State you're names and business with Konoha."

"Uchiha Itachi and Uzumaki Naruto briefly returning from a training trip, to speak to the Hokage."

With a curt not, and surprisingly, a warm smile to Naruto, the Guards let them pass.

Opting to take the rooftops to save time and prevent unwanted confrontations, they took off towards the Hokage tower. Soon they were at the Hokage's office, knocking to hear an 'Enter.'

The old Hokage sat behind his desk, slowly massaging his temples. Problems with the Uchiha clan were steadily increasing number and severity, and sadly it was time to take action. At the knock on his door, he sat up straight, calling to his visitors to enter. Upon seeing Itachi followed by Naruto he smiled. "Hmm, Naruto, you're growing up. Three years ago you would have just barged right in." With a small smile Naruto remained silent. It was obvious that he was wary about being back in the village that had caused most of his pain. Writing on a piece of paper he handed it to Naruto. "Here Naruto, why don't you go get some ramen? Just give this to the restaurant owner, and they will send me the bill."

With a huge grin Naruto jumped and ran out the door yelling back as he went. "Thanks old man!"

As Naruto ran off, Sarutobi gave a mock sigh of relief. "Whew, at least there is still some of the old Naruto in there!" His smile quickly turned to a serious face. "Itachi, it's time. I'm afraid I'm going to have to make you a missing nin as well."

"I see. What about Naruto?"

"You can take him with you, he is underage, and hasn't even entered the academy. There is nothing saying that a citizen cannot leave the village. He will have to return on his own though. You can escort him almost as far as the gates, but then you will have to say goodbye. Even though you will be a missing nin I expect reports of his progress.

"When should I do it?"

"Tonight. Bring Naruto here around 10 pm. I'll keep him with me while you complete the mission. As soon as you are finished come back here to pick him up. It will be up to you to explain what is happening, from what you have told me in your reports, he should understand. Now, why don't you go spend some time with him. Walk around the village a little, see the sights."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"I'm sorry about this Itachi. I wish it didn't have to be this way."

"I understand Hokage-sama. I'm the one that chose to do this."

"Very well, I'll see you tonight."

Nodding in affirmation Itachi shunshined outside of the ramen shop he knew Naruto would be at. Peeking in he greeted Naruto. "I knew you'd be here."

Naruto grinned widely as he rubbed the back of his head. "Of course! This place has the best Ramen."

"Well, hurry up and finish. Lets go walk around the village, maybe we'll go visit you're girlfriend."

Naruto stood up quickly, almost knocking over the sacred ramen. "SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"Oh, really?" Itachi raised an eyebrow, an evil smirk coming across his face. "From the way you talked about her it sure seemed like it."

For another 30 minutes they stayed there, Itachi coolly getting on Naruto's nerves as they ate their ramen.

--

After they finished their ramen, Naruto handed the owner of the shop, Teuchi, the note that the Hokage had given him and they left. For a while they walked around seemingly with no destination in mind, chatting (and sometimes arguing) about various topics. After a couple of hours they found themselves outside of the Hyuuga household, just to hear a commotion inside. It sounded as if someone was yelling. After a short while it stopped, and a young girl, about Naruto's age, with midnight blue hair ran outside the compound into the forest. Naruto, and Itachi shared a confused look, both recognizing the young girl to be the heir to the Hyuuga throne, Hinata.

Itachi inwardly smiled, though this wasn't exactly how he planned it, it was a perfect way to get Naruto and Hinata to talk. "Naruto, she looks upset. You should follow her and try and comfort her."

Naruto nodded and took off in the direction that the young heir had taken off in.

It was only a few minutes before Naruto had found her. She was sitting near the edge of a clearing leaning against a tree while she cried into her knees. Naruto, having no idea what do just stood there for a while, feeling guilty about just watching her. Finally he let instincts take over. He walked up to her slowly and crouched down. Hearing nothing Hinata continued to weep, wetting her kimino near her knees. Naruto cautiously reached out, almost unsure of himself. Carefully he placed one hand under her chin and lifted her face to look at him. Hinata expecting it to be her father about to scold her again for being so weak closed her eyes tightly. Suddenly she felt warm, and soft hands wiping her tears away. Slowly she opened her puffy red eyes, to gaze at the kind person.

"Neh, Hinata-chan. You don't look nearly as pretty when you cry."

Hinata could barely believe her eyes. The young boy that had saved her all those years ago from those bullies, was once again saving her. Only this time it was from her own sorrow. She was overjoyed at the sight of him. Within a second her tears of sorrow had turned into tears of happiness at seeing her friend. Jumping up she wrapped her arms around Naruto happily crying into his shoulder. After quite a while she pulled back, dry eyed and looked at Naruto's face. Naruto relieved that everything was alright started talking to her, asking her what had been going on within the past three years while, she questioned him about his trip.

--

When Naruto had ran off Itachi let a small smile slip onto his face, before it returned to his serious mask. He wondered why the heir to the soon-to-be most prominent clan in Konoha had run from the clan's grounds crying. With a slight frown, he decided to investigate. Walking up to the clan gates, he was stopped by a Hyuuga branch-house guard.

"I'm sorry Itachi-sama, but I can't let you enter."

"Do you know what just happened?"

The guard opened his mouth only to close it again shortly after without having said anything. "Hiashi-sama is not happy with his daughter. He believes her to be weak thus, constantly ridicules her."

Itachi's mouth tightened slightly, the only outward sign that he was angry. The branch member however caught it due to the extensive training that all Hyuuga underwent. Deciding no to comment he remained silent. After a pause Itachi spoke. "I would like to speak with Hiashi-sama if it would be possible."

The branch member nodded, before disappearing into the clan grounds, only to reappears less than a minutes later, somewhat shaken. "Hiashi-sama will see you, please follow me. I warn you though, he is not in a good mood."

Itachi nodded, silently following the branch member. After a minute, he stopped in front of a door. "Hiashi-sama is inside."

Thanking the man, Itachi knocked, and upon hearing a quiet 'enter' opened the door and stepped inside. A stony faced Hiashi sat behind his desk calmly writing on a piece of paper. As Itachi entered, however he stopped and looked up. "Ah, Itachi-san, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I wanted to speak to you about your daughter."

With that one sentence, the entire atmosphere of the room changed. The smile on Hiashi's face, disappeared, turning into a frown, as his eyes narrowed angrily. "And why, pray-tell do you want to do that?"

"I heard some commotion within your compound as I was passing by, and a short while later, your daughter ran from the clan grounds crying. I wondered why the heir to a clan such as the Hyuuga would behave like this."

"So the weakling ran off crying? Figures. For years, I've trained her, and she has failed to show any promise at all. She is weak an not worthy of being heir."

"She's not even six yet." Itachi stated.

"So? You graduated from the academy younger than that. She has yet to gain the abilities that should be required to enter the academy, although she has recently started there."

Itachi could feel his anger rising. "Just because somebody like me did something out of the ordinary, doesn't mean that it should be expected."

"Then, what would you have me do. I will not have a weak heir."

"Encourage, her. With a simple compliment her speed of improvement will increase exponentially."

"It will not work, and I refuse to waste my time trying. Now kindly leave, before I have someone escort you out of here."

Silently Itachi turned and quickly made his way out of the compound. As he expected Naruto and Hinata weren't back yet so he decided to go and find them. Quietly making his way through the forest, he made it to the clearing in which they were situated relatively quickly. They sat next to each other, Hinata leaning up against Naruto who had his arm around her, as they animatedly talked. Deciding that sadly, it was time to break up the long awaited reunion he stepped into the clearing. Itachi could barely hold in his laughter when as the two spotted him they quickly separated deeply blushing. "I'm sorry to break up your reunion, but there is something we need to discuss." Noticing Itachi's serious tone both of the young would-be shinobi paid him their full attention, forgetting any embarrassment. "Hinata, how would you like to come on a trip with Naru-chan and I?"

"Hey! I told you never to call me that!"

Giggling Hinata was contemplated it for a moment. "I would like that, but I'm sure my father wouldn't approve."

"Well what if you didn't need his approval?"

"That would be great! But how would I not need his approval?"

"It's possible, due to Konoha's bylaws, that if a clan is lacking sufficient numbers they may… accept people into the clan, even removing them from their previous one, should they have any. Naruto, here is the only member of his clan. As such, he would, with permission of the Hokage because he is not of age and does not have a clan head, be able to accept you into his clan. This wouldn't affect your last name or anything, so if you wanted to marry him at a later date, there would be no problems." He laughed as the blushes came back to both of the children's faces. "Would you accept Hinata into your clan Naruto?"

"Of course!"

"Would you like to join Naruto's clan, Hinata?"

"Yes. I would."

"Great! Now normally it is custom to ask the parent or guardian, for someone younger than 16 if they would allow the inductee to join another clan. However, in a conversation with your father, Hinata, he said that he would not have a weak heir. This statement is enough to make it unnecessary to request his permission. Now, lets head to the Hokage's office."

The journey to the Hokage's office was slow, due to the fact that Hinata was with them but, it was fun for Naruto and Hinata as they laughed and joked with each other. Itachi's mind, however, was elsewhere. How was he going to tell them that he was going to kill his whole clan? He knew that Naruto would be fine receiving the news, since he had heard similar stuff already, but how would Hinata take it. Even though, he technically only had to tell Naruto, to be fair Hinata should know who she was traveling with and the dangers that presented. Itachi was broken out of his thoughts as they arrived at the door. Knocking, they quickly entered.

"Ah, Itachi. You're a little early, and you have an extra member!"

"Hai, Hokage-sama. We have a few complications. First is, Hinata would like to join Naruto's clan. Her father already essentially disowned her in a conversation with me thus all we need is your permission."

"I see, and why should I allow this."

"Her father is not giving her the love and attention she needs to thrive. Naruto with his boisterous personality would more than be able to make up for that."

Sarutobi was already rummaging through a drawer to find a slip of paper. "Ok, then. I just need Naruto's and Hinata's signatures to make it official!"

As the young shinobi in training were reading over and signing the document Itachi continued. "The second complication is that I haven't told them about _it_ yet. I know Naruto will take it fine but I'm worried about Hinata. I don't know what to do. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Yes, you tell her the truth as well. Do you want me to put up a sound barrier around the room?"

"Yes please Hokage-sama." As soon as the sound barrier was in place Itachi turned to Naruto and Hinata kneeling down so that he was at eyelevel with them. "Listen up. What I'm about to tell you, neither of you may speak a word of it to anyone even those present in this room." With a deep breath the Uchiha prodigy closed his eyes and started. "The Uchiha clan has become disloyal to our Hokage. They are planning to rebel, killing Hokage-sama and taking over the village. In order to stop this I have to do a very difficult task. I have to kill my whole clan." That statement caused a gasp from Hinata, while Naruto just nodded in understanding. It was just like when Itachi killed his own best friend in order to protect Naruto. "I understand you're surprised Hinata. I'm not happy about what I have to do, but we have given the clan as much time as possible to stop from making this mistake. There is no other choice." Hinata just nodded, sad that someone would have to do something such as killing practically everyone they had ever loved. Seeing Hinata understanding the situation Itachi stood up and turned to the Hokage. "I'll be back as soon as possible."

As Itachi left, he pulled out a scroll from his pocket, unraveling it as he went. He smeared blood across a seal in the middle of the scroll unsealing a katana.

--

It had been three hours since Itachi had left. Currently he stood in the main room of the Uchiha complex. The last two Uchihas alive, besides him and his brother, kneeled in front of him. Their faces held no anger or sorrow, simply understanding. They realized that they had been found out and accepted their fate. What they didn't expect was for at that moment for the youngest Uchiha, Sasuke to come barging into the room at that time. At the sight in front of him Sasuke stopped in his tracks. "Itachi-niisan, why?"

The anger that Itachi had held for his family vanished. He didn't want his brother to have to see this. But maybe it could work out for him. Despite his disgust at what his own clan had been planning, he still loved them. He was devastated inside that he had to kill them all, and he knew it would haunt him for the rest of his life. With one more second of thought he came to his decision. "To test my power." Itachi looked down at his parents anger appearing back in his eyes. "If you want to avenge your family, despise me, hate me! Then, when you are ready, hunt me down and defeat me." Itachi swung his bloody katana, slicing of the heads of both his parents with one stroke. Then, he disappeared with a shunshin, back to the Hokage's office.

--

Naruto and Hinata jumped when Itachi appeared back inside the office covered in blood, his katana in hand. "It's time to go." Turning to the Hokage Itachi nodded and started to walk out the door.

"Itachi wait." Sarutobi held out an envelope which Itachi grabbed with his clean hand. "I took the liberty of removing some cash from your account. This should last you a while."

"Thank you Hokage-sama. You will receive monthly reports from me." With that the newly formed team of three took off running as fast as Hinata could keep up with. Itachi looked back at the two young children. "Hinata, I'm sorry but we don't have time to grab anything of yours. Anything you need we will buy at the next town."

"**You know kid, you never did come up with a name for you kekkai-genkai.**

'_Oh, yeah. You're right. Hmm, How about Genshukugan?'_

"**Gravity eye? Why that?"**

'_Because I can pull chakra to myself kind of like how the earth pulls people to it.'_

"**Good name kid, good name."**

--

Whew! I'm done with Chapter 4! Longest chapter yet, and I hope they keep getting longer!

Itachi has killed his clan, and Hinata has joined the team. Naruto now has a name for his kekkai-genkai, what next?


	6. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. _

"Normal Speak"

'_Thought'_

"**Demon Speak"**

'_**Demon Thought'**_ (Note, Naruto cannot hear this)

"**Shinigami Speak"**

'_**Shinigami Thought'**_ (Note, Naruto cannot hear this)

Holy cow, this story now has over 100 alerts!

Thanks for all of the reviews.

Here is Chapter 5.

--

**Will of Fire**

By Pyxl Myxr

Chapter 5: New Bonds

It was a two week trip to their destination. The journey was spent mostly bringing Hinata into the loop. They had little time to train as they were constantly on the move, trying to avoid as much confrontation as possible. Halfway through the trip the stopped at a small town, to purchase anything necessary for Hinata. Moving quickly they made their way out of the town the same day. When they reached the compound they were going to be staying at, both young shinobi-in-training's mouths dropped open in awe. The compound was by no means big, in fact it was rather small compared to most clan buildings, but the location easily made up for it. The compound was set into the side of a mountain. A waterfall fell in front of the main building, crashing into a lake surrounded by gigantic trees.

"Ah, Itachi-kun, you're a little later than I thought you would be."

The group turned around to see a young lady. She looked like a twenty year-old version of Hinata but with a few noticeable differences. The most prominent one would be her hair. Instead of being completely smooth, it seemed to be a fusion between Naruto and Hinata's hair. It was spiky but long enough that it could no longer deny gravity and hung loosely around her face. The other main difference would be that she seemed to have an air of confidence surrounding her and her face was not covered in a blush like Hinata's often was.

"Sorry about that Kyoko-san, it was unavoidable. I trust you got my message?"

"Now, now. What did I say about calling me that," she said laughing lightly as she turned to the two six-year-olds. "This must be Naruto," she paused studying him for a moment before turning to Hinata looking into her pale lavender eyes. "You didn't say you were bringing a Hyuuga with you."

Itachi shrugged. "We had a last minute change in the plan. She's quite like you were when you were younger. Near Naruto, she acts just like you did when around Taiki-san."

"Somebody say my name?"

"I was wondering where you were. I was just telling Kyoko-san that how Hinata acts around Naruto could be compared to how she acted around you when you two were younger."

"She's that bad huh? Well, I'm sure Kyoko-chan will be able to fix that. Anyhow, there's no use standing around out here, lets go inside.

--

Three years had passed since Naruto and Hinata were 'kidnapped' from Konoha. Both had changed remarkably. Naruto, who used to be a little shorter than Hinata now stood about two inches taller than her. His blond hair had grown out quite a bit making him resemble the Yondaime even more than he had before. His black clothes hung loosely off his still small frame allowing free movement without getting in the way. He was quieter, but not overly so. He seemed to enjoy being overly-enthusiastic and was still quite loud when he felt like it but could be completely serious when the situation called for it.

Hinata had seemed to have changed less. Though she had gotten taller her outward appearance hadn't changed much. She had started to grow her hair out due to one day Naruto commenting on how he thought she would look really pretty with long hair. His statement happened to result in a deep blush before Hinata fainted. Though it wasn't visible under her overly large jacket she wore she had also started developing breasts, which Naruto, of course, was blissfully unaware of, due to how he had yet to start puberty and he currently had a lack of real attraction to girls.

Their training was tougher than anything they had ever experienced, but it was very rewarding. While Naruto's chakra control wasn't up to that of Hinata's his kekkai-genkai easily made up for it. About a year into his training he realized that even though some chakra was wasted and dispersed into the air when his kekkai-genkai was activated the wasted chakra was collected and stored back into his body. And due to the fact that it was his chakra, it was at 100 percent efficiency. He immediately told his discovery to his senseis only to receive a word of caution. Though he essentially had perfect chakra control with his kekkai-genkai activated, he still used too much chakra before it was reabsorbed. With this being the case, if he used all of the chakra he had doing something that didn't require that much, he would still die, even when his kekkai-genkai was active. In addition to that, he invented a number of new techniques. After finding a scroll on chakra and seal theory, he started thinking up different jutsus. After one, rather explosive mistrial that left him immobile for the rest of the day and received him a long lecture he wizened up and decided to use Kage-bunshin to test his new seal combinations. When he received the desired effect, he set up to 100 clones to working on mastering the jutsu, while he worked with another clone on a different technique. Due to his increased chakra control, he could now create upwards of 1000 clones before tapping out on his chakra supply. Because of this, he was easily able to invent and master many new jutsu, some of which could be considered S-class due to their effect or chakra consumption.

Hinata had grown exponentially with her training. With firm, but kind advice on how to improve, her self confidence shot up along with her various skills. She really had near perfect chakra control and wasted next to none whenever she used a technique. She spent much of the training time creating her own variant of the Hyuuga style to fit her naturally slim and flexible body. Like Naruto she was given weights for taijutsu training but was advised to take them off once in a while and spar with them off, to allow herself to adjust and not overshoot when using her Juuken. Other that to adjust the weights as necessary she had little to no contact with Taiki. As Kyoko was a Hyuuga she was the one who trained Hinata in the taijutsu aspect. Though her self confidence in her skills had dramatically increased, her confidence around Naruto, was still lacking. Thus, the two were forced to spend a lot of time together, and remain in physical contact together. For instance, under the guise of partner training the two were forced to hold hands as they fought. Though it was mostly to help Hinata with her confidence issue, it was still useful. It helped them learn to anticipate and compliment the other's moves, which would be limitlessly useful later on in their career, particularly on partner missions. They also had one day off a week, and were encouraged to spend it doing something together.

Most of these days they spent walking around the outside of the estate. There were plenty of beautiful and peaceful places that they stayed for a while and talked, in much of the same position as they had done on that last day in Konoha. One of the days, however, they were interrupted.

_Flashback_

"Naruto, Hinata, there is something we need to discuss."

"Hai, Taiki-sensei," they chimed in unison.

Taiki led them back to the estate and into one of the rooms they had previously not been allowed into.

Already in the room were Kyoko and Itachi, both with very serious looks on their faces. Noticing this, both Naruto and Hinata remained silent and adopted serious looks on their faces as well.

When the door was closed Kyoko was the one who spoke. "We called you here for two reasons. One is on a lighter note so we'll start with that. The first is in regards of you, Naruto. A scroll was left in our possession, outside of Konoha so no one could get their hands on it, only to be given to you when you met certain requirements." Out of one of her pockets she pulled a scroll and handed it to him. "It is now yours. Please wait to open it until after we are done. The second reason has to do with the both of you, and it involves Itachi, so I'll let him explain."

"Thank you Kyoko-san. Unfortunately I have to leave. A criminal organization known as Akatsuki has arisen, and they have been attempting to recruit new members. It seems that they found out what I did to my clan and have asked me to join. Originally I was going to decline, but it seems that their objective is to capture all of the bijuu, and Jiraya-sama has asked me to join in order to keep tabs on them. I had hoped to be able to stay and observe your training for the remaining three years but it seems as if that is not possible."

Both Naruto and Hinata nodded sadly. They had grown to like Itachi very much and wished that they could spend more time with him but realized the importance of his new job.

Taiki, who had remained silent the whole time now stood up and spoke. "That is all. Now Hinata, I have to ask you to allow Naruto to read the scroll on his own. However after he is done feel free to join up with him again, and if its O.K. with him read it yourself."

With small nods and a glance at each other Naruto headed towards his room, Hinata following a little back. As they reached the door Naruto turned to Hinata. "I'll tell you when I'm done." Stepping inside and closing the door Naruto walked over to his bed and laid down on his stomach before proceeding to open the scroll.

_Dear Naruto,_

_If you are reading this then it means that I am dead and so is my wife. As I'm writing this the Kyuubi is making its way towards Konoha. As Hokage, I have a duty to do what I can to help my village so I have designed a jutsu that will seal the Kyuubi. The only problem, is that the container can't be just anything; it has to be a newborn child. Due to the Kyuubi threat, my wife has entered premature labor, and is going to be giving birth to you very soon. I'm sorry about this, but this is the only solution that I see. I can't ask another parent to sacrafice their newborn baby. I would love more than anything to be able to teach you all I know and be there as you grow up but this Jutsu requires the sacrafice of the user. Upon preforming it, I will lose my life. I have many enemies, who would love to take revenge on my by hurting you, my son so I hope that the power of the Kyuubi will protect you from harm. Both your mother and I love you very much and have been waiting anxiously for you to truly enter our life._

_Love, Minato Namikaze (Yondaime), and Kushina Uzumaki._

_P.S. The seal below, is a blood seal. Only wiping some of your blood on it will open it. Inside are my two prized jutsu, the Hirashin no jutsu and the Rasengan. May these help you protect the ones you love._

_P.P.S. If at some time in your life, you get a relationship with a person that, you would do anything for them; you would go farther for them than anyone else, you must tell them of the Kyuubi in you, even if you are apprehensive. If they are someone who is truly worthy for you to protect at all costs, they will accept you without question. When they do, hold on to them as tight as you can and never let them go, for they are someone truly worthy of your love._

Tear drops fell onto the parchment, rapidly making it damp. Naruto rolled up the scroll and placed it at the head of his bed before burying his face into his arms sobbing loudly, and completely forgetting to call to Hinata.

--

Hinata sat outside Naruto's door patiently, but anxiously waiting for him to finish. After a while she heard muffled sobbing. Immediately feeling concerned, she opened the door and ran to Naruto's side. Pulling him up into a hug she tightly wrapped his arms around him, allowing him to cry to his hearts content into her shoulder as she stroked his hair and whispered loving words to him. Slowly Naruto's sobs receded, and she reluctantly released her embrace to look into his bloodshot eyes.

As Naruto, gazed into Hinata's eyes, he felt emotions he never had before rise up within him. In her eyes he saw something that he hand never expected to receive, love. The love was so strong that he realized how he felt for her. The scroll had outlined it almost perfectly. As he gazed into her pale lavender eyes, he understood that he would do anything for the girl in front of him. Even, just being nine years old, he knew that he would give his life at a moments notice just to protect her. He wanted to protect her, with all his heart and thats when he received the resolve to tell her about the Kyuubi. Throughout the three years they had spent together he had gained a complete trust in her, but was always afraid that she would reject him if he ever told her about the Kyuubi. He was foolish, he realized, to have believed that even in the slightest bit. Hinata had never acted in any way other than love and caring towards him. All it took was a simple letter to remove any doubt in his mind. It was time that Hinata learned the story of the Kyuubi. "Hina-chan, what do you know of the Kyuubi?..."

_End Flashback_

Since then Naruto and Hinata spent all of their free time together, sometimes not even talking, just sitting together, enjoying their bond with one another.

--

Three more years had passed, since Naruto had learned of his heritage and told Hinata of the Kyuubi. It was time to be heading back to Konoha. They would be arriving in the middle of the night, meeting the Hokage at the gate. In order to keep their arrival secret, both to avoid complications with the Hyuuga clan, and to give Naruto and Hinata some peace from the villagers, the Hokage had arranged for no guards to be assigned that night. In addition, a few weeks earlier, both Kyoko and Taiki had decided to return with Naruto and Hinata and had received nearly filled out clan acceptance forms, needing only the signatures of Naruto and the two inductees for it to be official.

After arriving, Naruto and Hinata would have the following day to themselves, allowing them to do anything (within law) they wanted, though they were encouraged to remain out of sight. The day after, they would attend school, kept anonymous from everyone but the sixth year teacher, Iruka Umino, until two days after the Genin exam exactly one week later, when their names would be announced for the teams they were on. Iruka was the only other person that knew the two pre-Genin would be arriving, due solely to the fact that he was their teacher and held no bias towards Naruto. For the trip back Naruto donned his black bandanna just like six years prior, much to the disappointment of Hinata (she loved his hair.)

It was time to head back. The group of four took off steadily, knowing that it would take only three days at a relaxed pace (well, relaxed for shinobi anyway) for them to reach the village.

The trip went buy quickly. Naruto and Hinata had almost immediately engaged in conversation that was practically non-stop, while Taiki and Kyoko merely observed them occasionally laughing at something one of them said or the others reaction. They arrived nearly exactly at midnight at the gates. The Hokage stood still silently awaiting for the group of four to reach him before speaking.

--

Hinata woke the next morning roughly a half hour before six quickly grabbing some clothes and with a quick glance at her much-more-than-a-crush, she headed off to the bathroom. Naruto was just waking up when she came back into the bedroom completely clothed, hair still slightly dripping from her recent shower. Nodding at her Naruto got up grabbing his own clothes before leaving to do the same she did. It had been like this for nearly two years. Though at the compound they had separate rooms often they wouldn't even sleep in them, instead opting to sleep in a small tent not far from their training area. They, of course, slept in separate sleeping bags but enjoyed being close together all the same. Back in Konoha however they were given the same room, due to their refusal to stay apart for extended periods of time. The room was very simple, empty except for two beds and a dresser holding their clothes. The beds were small, obviously designed for only one person to sleep in, of course they probably would have slept in different beds even in they were bigger. Hinata would surely die if she were that close to Naruto without even a blanket separating them. The thought of being so close to Naruto in just their underwear made Hinata go completely red in the face. It was bad enough that she saw him in only his boxers every morning. At this time Naruto reappeared in the bedroom fully clothed, snapping Hinata out of her daze.

For their off day they decided to stay inside. Being away from Konoha for so long they knew no places they would be allowed to go to that were like the compound in the mountain, and opted to just explore the small clan compound that they had received, fully paid for by the Hokage, upon arrival. The compound was small, yet still bigger than their previous one. The back yard was mostly untouched by human hand. A small lake sat right in the center surrounded by very tall and very thick trees. Between the house and the gate there just grass and sharing a look, both Naruto and Hinata knew that they were going to construct their garden there. During one of their conversations they had discovered that they both shared a love for gardening and ever since had spent a lot of time in the gardens their mountain home.

As they wandered through the rest of the estate they became more and more sure that their time in Konoha would be much better now then it was before they left. They laid down at the base of one of the larger trees surrounding the lake, arms around the other. For once they didn't talk as they stared at the sky finally falling asleep many hours later without having said another word.

--

Whew, this chapter was hard to get out. There isn't much dialogue and there are two timeskips. It was more like a filler chapter than a real one but I wanted to show some of their progress instead of having them just appear back in Konoha. Naruto will be very strong in this fic, as will Hinata but they will be far from unbeatable. Next chapter is the one I've been waiting to get to since before chapter 4. I'm really excited and should have it out in an even shorter update than this one (only a month!) The next chapter will start the day after this one ended and should be significantly longer. I'm upset that this chapter is shorter than last but I didn't want it to be boring and Naruto and Hinata are still to young for too much fluff.

Next time: The Genin exams are here, how will it go now that Naruto and Hinata are considerably stronger. What will Sasuke think? And find out the name of Naruto's other inhabitant in the next exciting installment of Will of Fire!


	7. Chapter 6

AN: I'm soo sorry. I meant to get this out _ages_ ago but I lost my Internet at my house and fanfiction (dot) net is blocked at my school. Then to make it even worse, just before I got my Internet back this Christmas, my hard drive failed. Unrecoverable. All of my writing for each of my stories was lost. And that put a total dampener on my mood so I neglected to start rewriting the chapters for a while. But finally it's released! Chapter 6: A Traitor in Konoha!

**Will of Fire**

by, Circean Shadow

Chapter 6: A Traitor in Konoha

Naruto sighed for what seemed to be the millionth time. During his nine years of absence from Konohagakure he had drastically improved his patience, almost to the point of being able to do nothing for hours on end, but even this was testing his patience. The week had gone unbelievably slow. He was forced to sit through Iruka's lectures as the man explained things that he had known since he was three. There were a few interesting bits actually. During this last bit of time at the academy for most, Iruka allowed anyone to ask whatever questions that they wanted. Most were just on Chakra or the three basic jutsu required to graduate. However one student asked about the Kyuubi.

_Flashback_

"Ne, Iruka-sensei; Can you tell us what happened with the Kyuubi again?"

The majority of students shot the kid a disinterested look before starting to talk amongst themselves, it was obvious that they all had heard the story multiple times. Unnoticed by almost all Naruto sat forward in his seat, for the first time appearing to be interested. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Hinata had done the same.

"Well, it happened 13 years ago," Iruka lectured. "Scouts reported having seen the Kyuubi near the edge of Fire Country and came back to report to the current Hokage; the Yondaime. He immediately confined himself to his quarters, seen by almost no-one but the Sandaime and the few people who brought him food. This was very unusual for him, being that he often liked walking around the village in his free time. But the citizens were not worried, this was the amount of faith they had in the Yondaime." Iruka looked around the room briefly noticing that merely three of his students were paying attention, two of them actually knowing the real truth.

"Finally the Kyuubi found its way to Konoha. Squads after squads of our greatest Ninja were sent to stall the demon, everyone continuing to wait and hope the Yondaime would show himself." A tear slid down Iruka's cheek. "Countless died, before the Hokage was able to make it to the battlefield. You see, ever since he had heard about the Kyuubi's presence, he had been working on a way to stop it. Despite the incredible amount of power that the Yondaime held, he was not cocky and knew that none of his techniques would be able to permanently harm the Kyuubi, so he had to develop another; one far more powerful than anything else that existed."

"Finally, on the day of the attack, the Yondaime managed to finish his technique. That amount of power, however wouldn't come without a price. His created technique required the sacrifice of the user's life. The Yondaime loved his country more than anything, and would do anything to protect it. To him, giving his life for the rest of Konoha was a sacrifice completely worth it. He summoned his partner, Gamabunta and together they went to confront the Demon fox. Though the Yondaime was wholly committed to giving his life, he hoped that it wouldn't have to come to that and attacked it with his two strongest attacks, the Hirashin no jutsu and the Rasengan.

Even the speed and power provided by the two attacks were not enough to seriously harm the beast, and he knew that he would have to use his technique. It's said that the roar of anger from the Kyuubi could be heard from all the other villages when the Yondaime managed to activate the technique, ending the battle and the Kyuubi's and his own lives. Every year since, a festival is held on the date of the battle, hailing the Yondaime as an everlasting hero and mourning all the shinobi who gave their lives in sacrifice," Iruka's voice broke here, "hoping to stall the Kyuubi enough that the Yondaime could finish his task."

_End Flashback_

It was obvious that Iruka had told this story many times, and it was well rehearsed. The difference between the story and the real thing was just a single change in the details; namely, Naruto's existence and the fact that the Kyuubi was sealed, not killed. Naruto was broken out of his thoughts by a light tap on his wrist from Hinata and he looked up in response.

Iruka had walked in. He seemed happy, but Naruto had experience with masks and could tell it was just a facade; he was upset to see that his students would be leaving. "Congratulations on passing! This is just the beginning of your new lives as ninja. You will momentarily be assigned into groups of three with a Jounin instructor, who will then come in and take you. Team one consists of..."

"... Team 7 consists of Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto's ears perked up at this and everyone looked around confused until they saw his attentive expression. One of the instructors actually started glaring at him after he learned his identity but Naruto promptly ignored it. He was curious about the third member of his team, he knew almost for sure that he was going to be put with Hinata but who would their other teammate be? "Hyuuga Hinata, and... Uchiha Sasuke." Naruto's eyes widened slightly. He had thought that Itachi had killed his whole clan. He would figure it out later. "Your Jounin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."

Naruto regarded his newfound teammate with unbiased eyes. Sasuke was slightly shorter than he was and had an air of confidence and cockiness surrounding him almost like he _knew_ he was the shit. _'That will have to go,' _Naruto noted mentally. If the two of them were ever to get along he couldn't have the Uchiha thinking he was better than everyone else. By this time Iruka was done speaking and the Jounin Senseis started coming in and collecting their students. Naruto sat back in his chair; he knew about Kakashi from some scrolls he was forced to read on famous ninja. Put in bold letters were the words, **"Late for everything that isn't life or death by upwards of an hour."** Naruto sighed, he wasn't going to be getting started with instructed training until much later each day than he would have preferred. And 'everything' included being assigned a team, so he bit his thumb and swiped it against one of the seals on his belt. In his hand appeared a Shogi set. Turning to Hinata he caught her eye and they started setting it up. In the split second Hinata knew that they would be in for a wait.

--

Sasuke regarded his two teammates with disdain. They looked weak. And stupid. They had actually paid attention to the story about the Kyuubi two days previously. What kind of idiots didn't know about the attack of the Kyuubi? The blond one was always smiling and it pissed him off. And even worse, it seemed that the female had a crush on him. He inwardly groaned. Could he have gotten a worse team? His sensei was even late.

--

Kakashi sat outside the academy, three hours had passed, a new personal record for his tardiness the noted with a grin. His team surprised him, as soon as he arrived, about an hour after he knew the teams were announced, both the blond and female immediately looked up and out the window directly at where he was located. They couldn't sense him could they? He should have been out of range of even the most powerful Byakugan and he was suppressing his Chakra with near mastery. How did they know he was there? The Uchiha was disappointing, he made no effort whatsoever to do anything useful with his time and instead opted to stare forward blankly for the whole two hours that Kakashi had watched.

Using a quick Shunshin no jutsu he poofed just outside the room.

--

Naruto and Hinata looked up at the door and Naruto resealed his Shogi set in his belt. The Chakra signature, that they were sure belonged to their sensei, just moved and appeared outside the classroom. Naruto glanced over at Sasuke, he hadn't seemed to notice. Finally after another minute the door opened and in stepped none other than the Copy Nin. Sasuke immediately started glaring at him while Naruto and Hinata merely waited patiently. "Hm, my first impression of you is, surprise," he said glancing at Naruto and Hinata, "and disappointment," he scolded looking pointedly to the Uchiha. He examined them for a moment. "Meet me on the roof. You have five minutes," he commanded as he poofed out of the room.

Naruto and Hinata exchanged a quick glance before looking at the Uchiha, silently communicating with each other. They wouldn't Shunshin in front of him. Quickly exiting the room before Sasuke had even moved they entwined their hands and disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves.

--

To say Kakashi was shocked would be an understatement. He realized that the two unknown members of his team were exceptional for Genin but when they used an advanced technique such as the Shunshin with no visible repercussions he couldn't hide his surprise. He hadn't even known the Shunshin at their age and he had already been a Jounin. They had just graduated from the Ninja academy and were merely Genin. _'Just how strong are these two?' _After his initial surprise he ignored them until just under five minutes later when the Uchiha finally arrived. "Alright, now that we're all here we'll start with introductions; your name, likes and dislikes, hobbies and dreams. I'll begin. My name is Hatake Kakashi, what I like and dislike is none of your concern nor are my hobbies. I have a dream." After a short pause he nodded. "Why don't you go next, Brood?"

All three graduates blanched. They had learned nothing but his name. Nevertheless the young Uchiha surviver started. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have few likes and many dislikes. My hobbies are training. My dream is more of an ambition, and it is to kill a certain man and rebuild my clan."

By now Kakashi was laughing inside; his blond student looked like he had just tasted the most sour thing in existence, no doubt upset in the lack of info. "Your next, Silence."

My name is Hyuuga Hinata. I like cinnamon rolls and love Naru-kun, and I dislike how my previous clan works. My hobbies are gardening, flower pressing, and training with Naru-kun. My dream is to help Naru-kun with his and change my previous clan for the better.

Kakashi gave a quick nod before changing his attention to his blond student.

"Alright Grins, your turn."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I LOVE ramen and Hina-chan, while I dislike arrogant pricks and pompous asses. My hobbies are tasting different types of ramen, gardening, learning new jutsu and training with Hina-chan. My dream is to become the Hokage to protect all who are precious to me along with this village to help Hina-chan change her previous clan."

Kakashi nodded to himself, he was surprised that the two young Genin were so... committed to each other but if anything it would make their drive to become stronger even more powerful than he was sure it already was. "Alright! Thats it for introductions. The _real _test is tomorrow."

"What will we be doing?" Naruto bobbed up and down in excitement.

"Survival training. And I'd suggest that you didn't eat breakfast or you'll throw u--"

He was cut off when there was a swirl of leaves, and an Anbu with the mask of a bear appeared on the roof in front of him. "Hatake-sempai! Mizuki has stolen the forbidden scroll, your tracking abilities are requested by the Hokage; no-one can seem to find him!" At Kakashi's nod the Anbu disappeared.

"Be at training ground 17 at 8. Don't be late." With that final warning the Copy Nin disappeared.

"Hn," came the ever interested reply of Captain Emotionless as he left the roof.

Hinata looked over at Naruto who looked deep in thought.

Abruptly he turned to her a serious expression on his face. "Hinata, I want you to go home, I'll be there in a short while. I have something I need to do first."

She nodded, sad that he didn't want her to come with him, but understanding his reason. Quietly her Byakugan activated for a second. "He's a couple of miles away heading towards the forest near the southwest gate."

A smile flickered on his face. "Thanks Hina-chan." He gave her a hug before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

She smiled before quickly vaulting off the top of the Academy towards their house.

--

Naruto raced through the forest towards two Chakra signatures he could sense. They had clashed just under a minute ago and he knew that Iruka had found Mizuki first, and was losing if his fading Chakra signature was anything to go by. His hands clenched as he pushed himself faster. Iruka knew of his secret and thought nothing less of Naruto for it, and that fact alone made him a precious person to Naruto, despite not having known him for very long. As he neared the clearing he could sense things more clearly.

Naruto could now see the clearing. He could see Iruka on his back leaning up against a tree, multiple kunai sticking out of various parts on his body. Mizuki was worn but nothing that would drastically affect his fighting ability. He could see a fūma-shuriken mid flight and he could instinctively tell that Iruka was too worn to block it. It would sever his head on contact. _'NO!'_ He wouldn't, he couldn't let one of his precious people die, not right in front of him! His kekkai-genkai activated. Time seemed to slow down for Naruto, almost to a stop.

His world exploded in a whirl of blue and... black? He had not time to ponder that, the shuriken was still moving towards his one week sensei. He could see that Shunshin wouldn't allow him to make it on time. He wanted something faster... needed something faster! Suddenly Chakra condensed in front of his teacher creating some symbols that he didn't really recognize, it didn't matter anyway, he somehow knew (instinct perhaps?) or was it something more? It didn't matter either way. A bright flash enveloped his body and the next thing he knew, he was in front of Iruka, the deadly blade mere inches from his face.

Faster than his eyes could follow his hand shot up into the center of the shuriken stopping it in its tracks. He smirked, he was in control. Flicking his hand to the right he sent the windmill blade flying into a tree one of the blades sinking all the way in and turned to his enemy. "If you even attempt to touch one of my precious people again, I'LL KILL YOU!"

Despite his current predicament and what had just happened Mizuki smirked _'The Kyuubi brat. Perfect! I can kill him and I'd be hailed as a hero even after stealing the forbidden scroll.'_ His smirk widened to show his pointed teeth. "So the Demon has some moves."

Silently he noted as a squad of Anbu appeared on the branches above him and shifted his hand subtly telling them not to interfere. He was actually surprised when they listened before he recognized Kakashi's Chakra signature standing at the front of the group. Naruto had to stop himself from laughing out loud if this went right he would not only get the chance to beat up a person that had been a huge source of hate and evil but they would never again threaten Konoha! "Demon?" The time that he had spent in Konoha previously was enough to make his expression perfect. He actually looked like he didn't know what Mizuki was talking about.

_'So he doesn't know. I can crush his spirit and it will make him even easier to get rid of.'_ He laughed before turning his evil grin back to Naruto. "Oh? You never wondered why everyone had looks of hate on their face whenever they saw you? Why almost every despises you with their every being?"

Naruto played his part perfectly. Slowly his shook his head, a look of fear covering his face.

"You are the Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

Suddenly Naruto's expression changed from that of fear to confidence. "Good job Mizuki-teme. You have just violated an S-class law in Konoha, punishable by death, and now I get to beat the literal ever living snot out off you."

Slightly put off from Naruto quick change in expression Mizuki shrugged. "No matter, you're only a Genin and I'm a Chunin this will be a piece of cake."

"Try it teme, whatever you send at me I'll return a thousand-fold! Tajuu Kage-bunshin no jutsu!" Suddenly 1000 exact clones of Naruto appeared in the clearing, one cockily walked until it was right in front of Mizuki. It spoke, "Give it your best shot!"

Anger getting the best of him, Mizuki threw a right hook right at the clone which promptly dodged. With a growl of frustration Mizuki attacked the clone with everything he had never hitting him, finally the clone disappeared something finally contacting with it.

At the exact same time all Naruto's in the clearing grinned, the real Naruto speaking up. "So that's what you want." Giving a mock bow he continued. "Your wish is my command; one thousand kicks to the crotch coming up!"

Mizuki paled.

--

A severely beaten Mizuki lay on the ground practically unconscious. Finally the last clone disappeared. Naruto turned his gaze up to the waiting Anbu. Giving a slight nod Naruto took off towards his House.

The Anbu appeared down in the clearing, a few heading over to Iruka and the rest to Mizuki. Kakashi spoke with his bored voice. "Mizuki, you have violated an S-class law the sentence is death. You will be executed in one week.

--

The Hokage sat back in his chair, the image in his viewing orb disappearing. _'Just how strong have you gotten Naruto?'_

--

Naruto arrived home in record time, he had no doubt that Hinata would be waiting for him. He opened the front door using their hidden key and entered. All of a sudden he was SUPER GLOMPED by Hinata. "Finally you're back! You were taking so long, I was worried about you." And without even thinking about it she pulled back and crushed her lips into his, effectively knocking him out in surprise. "Naru-kun? Naruto you wake right up this instant, I'm supposed to be the one who does that. AND I WASN'T FINISHED YET!"

--

Yay! Chapter 6 is done! Did you like the little bit of NaruxHina fluff at the end there? XD Anyway, I had originally wanted to include the bell test in the chapter but I wrote much more detail than I had originally planned and if I decided to write the bell test for this chapter, it wouldn't get released until at least a week later and I've already waited too long to upload again.

Now before anyone freaks out. Yes Naruto used the Hirashin. He doesn't know that he did it yet and can't do it on will yet. He has yet to learn the technique, but the stress and necessity of the moment allowed a momentary intuitive grasp of its use. As for how he used the Hirashin without the kunai that is easily explained. His kekkai-genkai is the ability to manipulate Chakra, he simply subconsciously remembered the seal used on the Kunai (remember he received a scroll that had both it and the Rasengan in it) and formed the Chakra in front of Iruka to take the shape of the seal.

That was my first fight scene so if anyone has any comments or suggestions please tell me. Thanks!

If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask. Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.


	8. Chapter 7

AN: Not much I can say but, I'm sorry for taking so long. There is no real reason for the huge delay besides laziness. Once again, I'm sorry. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it. Enjoy!

Will of Fire

by, Circean Shadow

Chapter 7: The True Test

_Somewhere Unknown_

A man was shrouded in shadow, the only source of light, the moon, artificially shown in the room he occupied. His arms were sore from being held above his head by chains. Quiet but confident footsteps approached. There was a click and the sound of creaking metal before a loud thum then silence. Suddenly another man spoke.

"You're lucky Orochimaru-sama still sees some use for you."

The person retreated, their footsteps gradually fading. The prisoner's chains burst into a whisp of chakra before disappearing. He dropped to the ground, landing on all fours. His eyes flew open, flashing silver before returning to their original hue. The cell door in front of him was open. The man smirked, a disgusting grin taking place on his face. An overhead light flashed and for a moment his face was illuminated before disappearing into darkness once again. The demon brat was going to pay.

-----

Naruto's eyes flashed open. His body was tangled in the sheets of his bed, sweat coating his body. He groaned, his felt exhausted, and definetly worse than he did earlier, even after his training. Hinata's face gazed down worriedly from above.

"Another one?"

Naruto nodded. He had been having these... drams since his return to Konoha. It was something that only Hinata and himself knew about. Hinata had wanted to tell Kyoko and Taiki but Naruto refused, saying something along the lines of not wanting to worry them.

"What was this one about?"

Naruto closed his eyes and spoke, "I saw Mizuki and... someone else, I don't know who. They freed him and said, 'You're lucky Orochimaru-sama still sees some use for you.' And now he wants revenge." Naruto felt sick. The look on Mizuki's face had been disturbing to say the least.

"Naruto-kun"

Naruto opened his eyes and let out a small smile. Just hearing Hinata's voice always made him feel better. He gestured for her to continue.

"I-" Her voice got stronger, almost commanding. "I think we should tell Hokage-sama."

Naruto sighed. He knew she would suggest this He took a moment to study her face. She wouldn't budge this time. "Fine, tomorrow." He sighed and looked at the clock. 1:43 AM. "Today... right before our meeting with Kakashi-sensei."

She nodded, content with his answer and laid down beside him, quickly falling asleep.

-----

Hinata's eyes slowly opened. She blinked a few times to wake herself up and shivered. Her warm comfy pillow had disappeared. Lightly blushing at what she just called Naruto she sat up and looked around. There was the faint sound of a shower running. Briefly considering using her Byakugan she blushed again, a deep shade of red coating her face this time. Naughty Hinata!

He thoughts were interrupted as Naruto walked into the room wearing only his boxers. After a quick smile towards her, started rummaging through his dresser for his training outfit.

She smiled. He was always so unashamed of his body. As a matter of fact, Hinata had seen Naruto in just his boxers before he had seen her even without her jacket. His outgoing attitude was something she admired... she loved about him. And it was helping her change it about herself. She was becoming more confident and today, particularly bold. Her smile grew, why not give him a treat today?

Her shower was quick. Being a shinobi, she had it ingrained in her skull that speed was often a very important trait. Dressed in only her underwear she quickly walked back towards the room hesitating outside the door. Usually she would take all of her clothes to the bathroom with her, but today she neglected to do so. Naruto wouldn't expect her to be coming back to the room so scantily clad.

Taking a deep breath she opened the door. His back was turned, that was good; she didn't have to fight to work up the resolve to fully step into the room and close the door behind her. Now was the hard part. Her dresser was situated such that she had to walk past Naruto reach it, and he was blocking the path a bit with his legs, extended in front of him as he wrote on a scroll.

Struggling to keep both the blush and smile off her face, she walked towards him. "Excuse me Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked up briefly before returning his attention to the scroll and retracting his legs. Wait... Hinata seemed different. Looking up again his jaw dropped. She was only in her underwear! He quickly wiped the blood from his nose and averted his gaze. 'Not a pervert! Not a pervert! Not a pervert!' But he had to admit. Damn, she looked good!

Hinata smirked and deactivated her Byakugan, secretly vowing to see if his reaction would be the same tomorrow.

Quickly getting dressed, she went and sat down on the bed next to Naruto. "Whatcha' doin'?"

"Nothing!" he replied merrily, quickly rolling up the scroll, and stashing it away.

Hinata pouted and looked up at him using the patented female only puppy dog eyes no-jutsu.

Naruto just avoided her gaze by closing his eyes and sticking his tongue out. "You'll find out later! Come on we've got to see the Hokage before the test." Grabbing her hand the two young shinobi shun-shined onto a nearby rooftop and started running towards the Hokage tower. They could have just teleported all the way but there was no hurry, and besides, this way they could talk about what they were going to say.

Soon they were at the tower taking off up the stairs promptly ignoring the Hokage's secretary telling them something about a guest. As they neared the Hokage's office they started to hear muffled shouting. Curious they drew closer.

"No. She is no longer part of your clan. You have no authority to place that disgusting seal on her."

"She is weak. We must protect the Byakugan!"

Hearing enough, Hinata and Naruto shun-shined inside the room right behind the man arguing with the Hokage. Hinata spoke before the Hokage could reply to the other man's previous statement. "Hello, Father. I see you still hold onto your pathetic ideals and fantasy that I am weak."

Whipping around, Hiashi struck out at his daughter, aiming for her heart. His attack never hit however, his wrist being held by none other than her companion, young Uzumaki. "Hinata is under the protection of the Namikaze-Uzumaki clan. Any attempt to harm her by another Konoha clan is a violation of the Universal Konoha Clan Law and will result in the removal, and replacement if necessary, of the attacker. Even if that person should be their Clan Head. So I suggest, _Hiashi-sama_, that you return to your clan elders and inform them that Hinata is, in all ways, untouchable." Releasing Hiashi's arm Naruto stepped back.

Seething in rage Hiashi spat out, "If Hinata needs _you _to protect her then I'm proven right. She really is weak."

Hiashi started to exit only to be stopped by Naruto's strong grip on his shoulder. "Understand this Hiashi..." His cold tone almost sent an involuntary shiver down the Hyuuga head's back. "I was not protecting Hinata, I was protecting you." With that, Naruto released the uptight Hyuuga causing him to stumble out of the room and stalk off, left to question what the blond demon container had implied.

A cough from behind them reminded them of their location. "It seems that you to have gotten a taste of what I've had to put up with since your change in clan, Hinata."

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama," Hinata apologized. "I didn't mean to cause so much trouble."

Waving off her apology the old Hokage continued. "I am curious about what you meant when you said you were protecting Hiashi, Naruto."

With a quick glance at Hinata and a nod in return Naruto explained. "Hina-chan with the help of Kyoko-neechan invented a technique designed specifically to combat the Jyuuken. By creating an extremely dense and curved chakra shield at the point of impact, a chakra based attack, such as the Jyuuken, is curved back towards the user and damages them instead.

The Hokage's eyes widened for a moment. A technique like this could be disastrous in enemy hands. "That's very impressive."

"Anyways, as amazing as Hina-chan's technique is..." At this Hinata blushed at the praise. "we came here for a reason." The Hokage gestured for him to continue. "I've been having... dreams ever since our return to Konoha. They're not exactly normal dreams though."

"During the dreams Naruto is in his REM cycle for longer than usual," Hinata explained. "I would guess that he's in the cycle about the amount of time it would take for the dream's events to actually take place in real life."

"And another thing I've noticed," Naruto added. "The time of day for the dreams, seems to be consistent with the time in the outside world."

The Hokage nodded. "Have you noticed anything strange when you wake up?"

"Yeah, I feel more tired than when I went to sleep... and I seem to have substantially less chakra.

"And you came to me because you had another of these dreams last night?" asked the old Hokage. At Naruto's nod he continued, "What was this one about?"

"Mizuki," Naruto replied. "Someone came and freed him, saying that Orochimaru still had use for him."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

Sarutobi was silent for a while. "I need to think about this for a while. Come back if you have another." As the two genin left the Sandaime sighed. _'There is no way Naruto could have known Mizuki had escaped the previous night. I haven't even had a chance to tell the council...'_

_-----_

Training ground 17 was seemingly empty when Naruto and Hinata arrived. There was a chakra signature nearby... Kakashi's. But they couldn't seem to pinpoint it. Discreetly activating her Byakugan, Hinata quickly scanned the clearing. Chakra flowed through the air like a river, swirling around in large wisps forming a dome that covered the whole training grounds. No wonder they couldn't pinpoint Kakashi's exact location.

Lightly touching Naruto's arm, Hinata silently motioned towards a stone that stood with three log posts in front of it. The duo walked towards the stone, entwining their hands together. Stopping a good ten feet away they kneaded.

_'So this is why you choose this place..._' speaking aloud Naruto continued, "Who have you lost Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi's eyes widened and he spun around, turning his back to the stone he had been gazing on; he hadn't even noticed two of his students had arrived. He remained silent, they couldn't know he was here, he was under a genjutsu! Besides, Naruto's eyes were fixed on the Memorial Stone. But then Naruto's eyes shifted from the stone to stare directly into his own, an expression coming onto the genin's face that clearly said, 'Well?'

Kakashi knew his cover had been compromised, however he didn't release the genjutsu, he might as well test his last student. Maybe this team would be the one... He finally spoke, "I first lost my father... He had been on a mission and his teammates were in danger. He sacrificed the mission to save them. When he got back to the village he was shunned by everyone that he had held dear, even the ones that he had saved. Shamed he committed Seppuku. I was young and the experience changed me; I became cold and calculating, valuing mission success over everything else. And then... I lost Uchiha Obito."

Kakashi took a deep breath. "He was one of my teammates, and my best friend. I just didn't realize it until he was on Death's door. I had just been promoted to Jounin; this was my first mission as one. My other teammate Rin had been captured. I wanted to continue with the mission but Obito refused, and ran off by himself to go help Rin. I knew I wouldn't be able to finish the mission myself and chased after him. When I caught up he was in the process of pushing Rin out of the way of a giant falling boulder. It landed on him, crushing half his body beneath it. But he was happy, he had saved her life and that's what mattered to him. It was then That I realized that he was my best friend. He gave me his one remaining Sharingan, which he had just awoken, saying it was my present for becoming a Jounin. And then he died..."

A lone tear slipped from Kakashi's only visible eye. I swore that it would never happen again. I would never lose another teammate like that. I would follow in my father's footsteps, sacrificing the mission if necessary to save my precious people. Rin died soon after. She became distraught from Obito's death, after all she loved him. I wanted her to be taken off active duty, but we were in a war; we needed as many people as we could get. She died on the battlefield, not from any wound that she had received, but from chakra exhaustion. She had no desire to live, and kept fighting, kept using more and more chakra until she collapsed. But she was finally happy, she would be with Obito soon." Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. "And then I finally lost the last person I cared about. The last person on my team..."

"My father," Naruto interrupted. Kakashi nodded, no more needed to be said. But Naruto wasn't finished. "Do you think they would be happy? With how you have your life now? Mourning their deaths rather than celebrating their lives. Tardiness when you could be finding new people to hold dear, to teach and to protect when necessary. People who share the dreams of your dead teammates and the desire to become strong and join you in protecting what is dear. You should think about it Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto stood up, as did Hinata; Sasuke was approaching the area, and they knew Kakashi could feel it as well. "We'll be waiting sensei." The couple walked towards a nearby tree and sat against it. Hopefully they wouldn't be waiting long but there was no way to tell for sure.

Sasuke entered the clearing briefly glancing at Naruto and Hinata before sitting against one of the training posts, just ten feet from their sensei, not even noticing he was there.

Kakashi mentally sighed, this wouldn't be the perfect team but perhaps they would have a chance. Eight was rapidly approaching. He hadn't had much time to think about what Naruto had said but it had struck a chord with him. He thought about his dead teammates, their smiling faces. Always doing what they could to help others achieve their goals without losing track of their own. He wanted to be like that. And his decision was made. Dispelling his genjutsu he sighed, audibly this time and mentally groaned when even that didn't get the 'last loyal' Uchiha's attention. Disappearing he reappeared on the log that Sasuke had positioned himself against.

"Well it seems that everyone is on time." His visible eye turned into an upside down u as he smiled and nodded in Naruto's direction, a silent thank you. "Now if you two," he motioned to the couple under the tree, "would join us I'll explain your test." Flipping off the log he landed in a crouch and spun to face his three soon to be students and stood up. "These," he said holding up two bells, "Are going to be your objective. You have until noon to acquire one. Those who don't will be sent back to the academy while those who do will be come my apprentices." Kakashi smiled. He knew Hinata and Naruto would realize the true meaning of the test but would Sasuke... "You will begin on my mark... Go!"

The three genin disappeared and Kakashi observed his surroundings, straining his senses. Sasuke was easy to find, it was disappointing but not unexpected. Naruto and Hinata had disappeared completely. Not completely unexpected he sighed. Those two had become quite strong in their absence from Konoha.

-----

Kakashi stood in the center of the training grounds seemingly reading the book he held. His eyes however were gazing past it, his senses searching everywhere for some sign of his other two students. They had just disappeared, and to someone, a Jounin none the less, who actually specialized in both assassination _and_ tracking, this was very disturbing. There was a slight vibration below him, so slight that had he actually been reading like he had originally planned he would not have noticed. Diving backward the ground erupted where he just was, his blond student emerging from the rubble his fist raised. Flipping over his hands he scanned the area. His student was gone once again.

He shivered, something that years of training and missions had revealed it's meaning to him; instinct. Kakashi ducked as a fist flew over his head once again from his blond student. All of a sudden there was another Naruto in front of Kakashi sweeping at his feet. Kakashi threw his arms in front of him, creating an X to block the attack. He slid back several feet as the attack connected, not completely surprised, but not expecting it either. Jumping he barely avoided another low kick. His one visible eye widened as a fist flew towards his face.

Barely completing the jutsu in time he disappeared, a log appearing in his place; dissolving into sawdust as the fist meant for his face connected with it. From his new position in a tree just to the south of the clearing he made the decision that he should have made from the very beginning. He would have to get serious. Placing his book inside it's pouch he set out to search for his students. Might as well get the Uchiha out of the way first...

-----

Sasuke frantically looked around. His sensei had just disappeared leaving no trace as to where he was. Much to the disappointment of Kakashi, who currently was calmly sitting on the branch directly above his young student, Sasuke wasn't using any chakra at all to try and help his senses. Had he been doing that he might have noticed the minor amount of chakra purposely being emitted above him.

Kakashi groaned again. (he seems to be doing that a lot lately doesn't he) Flipping backward he consciously landed on a thing branch, causing it to crack under his weight.

Sasuke lunged forward towards the clearing, spinning midair to throw kunai towards the area the sound had come from.

Kakashi, however, had already disappeared and landed in the clearing several feet behind Sasuke, who had once again failed to realize he was there. "Well Sasuke, are you going to attack or not?"

The Uchiha 'prodigy' spun around once again and growled. How did his sensei manage to get behind him? Sasuke slid into the infamous Uchiha taijutsu stance and smirked. He would easily get the bell, and leave those loser no-name teammates he had behind.

"Lesson One: Taijutsu."

Sasuke lunged forward aiming a kick for his Sensei's head. Curling his foot around the arm he pulled his upper-body inwards, closer to his opponent reaching for the bells. Suddenly the his outstretched wrist was grasped in an iron grip.

Kakashi held onto Sasuke by one of his ankles and wrists. Spinning around he tossed Sasuke away, calmly standing back up. "Tsk, tsk. That was a disappointing effort Sasuke. Naruto did much better."

Sasuke growled, nobody, NOBODY made fun of an Uchiha. Flying quicky (in his mind) through seals he yelled out. "Katon, Goukakyuu No Jutsu!" Fire erupted from his mouth, heading for Kakashi. Smirking, Sasuke started walking towards where his sensei was. _'That'll teach him to underestimate me.'_ The smoke, quickly cleared revealing an empty crater.

Kakashi chuckled as the sphere of fire disappeared and the smoke cleared, his voice echoing from all around the crater, "Well, that's certainly a strong technique for a genin to have. Much to weak to do any real damage to a trained shinobi however."

Sasuke's eyes widened. _'Impossible! My technique hit him head on!'_

"You are incorrect in your assumption that your attack connected with me, Sasuke. Now then, since you seem to be so interested in it, Lesson Two: Ninjutsu."

Sasuke frantically looked around for some sign of Kakashi. Left, right, behind, up? How little he knew. Hands erupted out of the ground in front of him, grasping his ankles and yanking him under the ground, leaving only his head visible.

Kakashi reappeared above ground in front of Sasuke. "Techniques are useless if the person wielding them doesn't know how to put them to their best use." Kakashi turned and walked away.

As Kakashi left the clearing, Naruto looked to his left, his girlfriend crouched there next to him, both having watched the confrontation. She spoke, "Well Naruto, you suppose it's time to actually try for the real objective?"

Naruto grinned and nodded. The pair jumped into the clearing, landing in front of the trapped genin. "We're going for the bells together, you in Sasuke?"

The young Uchiha scoffed. "As if. You two will just get in--" he was cut off as Hinata disappeared from his sight and the pressure of a kunai against his neck made its presence known.

Hinata spoke from behind him. "Really, Sasuke? Cause the last time I checked you're the one that's buried up to your neck, while we're free."

Sasuke scowled. "Fine," he spat, "what's the plan?"

-----

The three genin sat around the clearing their sensei had decided to position himself in. It was time... Sasuke jumped into the clearing, throwing kunai at their sensei. Kakashi caught the kunai but that was fine, Sasuke didn't actually expect them to hit anyway. Disappearing in a wisp of smoke, one of the kunai was replaced with Hinata. Using surprise to her advantage she struck out at a tenketsu on his wrist, closing off the chakra running to his hand.

Lashing out with an elbow, Kakashi jumped back, flicking the remaining kunai at Hinata, who disappeared in a swirl of leaves. He looked around, Sasuke was no longer in the clearing. He was once again alone. Rubbing his wrist he calmed himself, reaching out his chakra to try and find the locations of his students. Ducking, his efforts proved worthless as a Shuriken shot over his head, two more headed straight for him. With little time to react, he launched himself into the air. Big Mistake.

Hinata suddenly appeared behind her sensei, hitting another tenketsu, this time on Kakashi's opposite wrist, and grabbed both of his forearms, holding them behind his back. Sasuke ran forward underneath them, tossing a kunai in front of Kakashi and jumping upward, grabbing onto his sensei's ankles. The kunai transformed into Naruto, who shot towards Kakashi, his fist extended. Kakashi knew he wouldn't be able to avoid the blow, and braced himself for impact. 3... 2...

The alarm rung down in the clearing below. Naruto faded, and reappeared on the ground, his fist having been less than an inch from Kakashi's face. Hinata let go of Kakashi's arms and disappeared in the same fashion as Naruto, appearing beside her boyfriend, while Sasuke released Kakashi's ankles and flipped towards the ground, landing next to his two would-be teammates.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed. "Darn! Crappy timing on the bell there."

Hinata beside him giggled and grasped one of his hands in her own, Sasuke following behind the couple, his hands shoved in his pockets.

-----

End chapter! Once again, I'm sorry it took so long to get out. Reviews will be used as fuel for my writing car.


	9. Chapter 8

AN: Yay! I didn't take 10 months to update! Anyway, passed the one year mark on this story, a couple weeks ago. I'm sorry I don't have more to show for the long amount of time this story has been up.

Will of Fire

by, Circean Shadow

Chapter 8: The Truth of Power

Kakashi landed silently in the clearing, and adjusted his hitai-ate to cover his left eye. He spoke, his back still to his students. "You didn't get the bells." It was a statement in essence, however it sounded much closer to a question.

Naruto laughed. "No... But that wasn't the true meaning of the test was it? If that was the case, no _normal _group of fresh out of the academy genin would ever pass..." He laughed again. "Of course looking at the statistics of those that you have tested, one might think so. But no, the test was much simpler than that."

"Oh?" Kakashi tried to sound surprised. Sadly, he was failing miserably.

"Of course not sensei." Hinata piped in. "Your test, along with all the other would be Jounin instructor's tests are looking for one thing, and one thing only. There's no saying that a genin would pass should they individually get a bell from some way or another because the bells are not the objective. The think you're looking for is—"

"Teamwork," Sasuke interrupted. He groaned. "I hate admitting it - and by hate I mean absolutely loathe – but Naruto and Hinata are better than me, and the fastest way for me to get stronger is to have help. People who have already walked the path, learned shortcuts, and the best methods of learning particular skills. That's the purpose of the instructors, and a bonus from teammates, "He glanced at the pair standing beside him. "Friends," he corrected.

Kakashi turned around, a smile evident on his face though his mask covered it up. "Well, then. You pass."

Naruto whooped, pumping his fist. Hinata giggled at his antics, and even Sasuke smiled. Maybe this team won't be so bad after all.

"Now," Kakashi continued, "get some rest, plan for tomorrow and get anything else that you need to out of the way. We will meet here tomorrow 6 a.m. sharp. I'll explain the agenda then. Now, I must report to the Hokage." With that last statement he disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving the three new genin alone in the clearing.

Sasuke shuffled uncomfortably, he had never really been in a situation like this and didn't know what to do. "Well, I'm going to go home, and do what Kakashi-sensei suggested," he said, turning away and starting to walk off missing the meaningful glance between Naruto and Hinata.

"Wait, Sasuke." It was Naruto, the look on his face completely void of the relaxed features that usually were present. "We need to talk."

Sasuke gulped, whatever this was about, he probably wasn't going to like it.

-----

Kakashi, appeared in the Hokage's office, noticing that the other Jounin instructor's were already present. However, everyone look surprised at his arrival. "What?"

The Hokage spoke up. "You're on time, Kakashi. Actually," he said, looking at the clock mounted on the wall, "you're early. Is everything okay?"

"Yes. I was," he pause to try and find the best word for the situation, "enlightened by the meeting with my new students."

The Hokage nodded. "So you've finally taken a team then? Very well. Are there any other teams that have passed?

Two people stepped forward. "Team ten, has passed Hokage-sama."

"Team eight, as well. Although barely..."

"Then, the rest of you are dismissed." As the would-be Jounin Instructors filed our of the room, the old Hokage regarded the three who's teams had passed. "Is there any additional information that you wish to inform me of?"

The instructor of Team eight spoke first. "I'm not sure if my team will last. They barely passed. If Kiba and Shino hadn't decided to attack at the same time as Sakura, ignoring her complaints, they would have failed. I'm not sure if they will last long out on the field, but they do have a chance. Shino and Kiba are fine shinobi and will grow up to be strong. There's still hope for Sakura but nothing is definite right now..."

Everyone looked at the instructor of Team ten. "No complications on my part. They all act just like their parents did, and worked together fine once they actually got around to trying."

Kakashi was the last one. "I underestimated my team. Badly. I still don't know how strong Naruto or Hinata are, but they have been able to detect me while I have watched them from afar or from under a rather complex genjutsu. Every time. Sasuke, is strong, and he'll learn quickly but he was very arrogant, and if Naruto and Hinata weren't stronger than him, the team probably wouldn't have passed. Luckily he's starting to have is messed up version of reality cracked. And another thing. They nearly got the bells, the only reason that they didn't is because the timer rung. And I'm guessing that it wasn't a coincidence."

The two other instructor's eyes widened. Just how strong were this unknown pair?

"Well," Sarutobi spoke up after a moment of silence, "It seems that we have a very interesting batch of new genin this year..."

-----

The newly formed team seven walked into a secluded clearing, not too far from where they had just taken their genin test. Sasuke spoke first. "What's this about?"

Naruto sighed. "This is going to be hard for you to believe, but I need you to listen. Remove you're sense of logic from your feelings and pay attention to what I'm saying." There was a short pause. "Give up your idea of revenge on Itachi."

Sasuke's face contorted in rage but with a look from Naruto, he breathed deeply trying to calm himself down. "Why?"

Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "There's a couple of reasons... First, he didn't just go off on a random killing spree against his family. It was a mission. You're family was planning to overthrow the village. You have to understand, Itachi loves Konoha, with all his heart. But not as much as he loves you. It pained him to kill is family, every person, whether they were actively involved in the plot or not, but for the good of Konoha he would. And then, you showed up. He couldn't kill you... not his brother, the one in the family he loved over all others." Naruto paused to let this sink in. "He has a disease, you know... deadly with enough time. He doesn't want to die like that, and so he told you to hate him, to despise him and come and kill him, in the hopes that you would, and he would be released. And once you finally got your revenge, you would return home, live happily and help rebuild the Uchiha clan, but as allies to the village."

Sasuke gulped, the hatred and anger towards his brother gone from his body.

"You will still have to fight him though. Someday, the time will come when you will see him." Naruto looked up as if he was thinking, and gave a small nod. "Itachi raised me, like a brother because he knew he couldn't be there for you. Because he didn't know when he would have to do the deed. He _is_ a brother to me, as he is to Hinata-chan. And that makes you our brother as well. Now enough about this. Come on, we'll treat you to some dinner. We can talk about how we'll help you in your training as well."

As the trio left the clearing, a figure in the trees finally moved. His black eyes followed the group as they left, a smile gracing his face. _'Thank you, Naruto.'_

-----

Three genin teams converged on a small barbeque restaurant, all arriving at the same time. A seemingly singular and very loud squeal was all the warning that Sasuke had that he was about to be crushed under the intense wait of the fangirl. Two fangirls to be exact. He was crushed to the ground, trying – in vain – to escape.

Naruto laughed. "And the strength of the fangirl strikes again."

A muffled voice could be heard. "Shut up and get these two off me!"

Finally taking pity on their teammate, each Naruto and Hinata lifted one of the insane girls up off the ground, setting them next to their respective teams. "Well that was fun."

Sasuke coughed from his position on the ground in protest as he tried to regain his breath. "I think I've just been raped." And he certainly looked the part too. His shirt had been ripped in multiple place, and his hair was a complete mess. Looking up at the two that attacked him he shuddered. "What the hell are you two? This is a training shirt, meant specifically to be very rip resistant. How the hell did you manage to put it in this state?"

Everyone in the group burst out laughing, with the exception of Shino, who merely smiled, Sasuke, the rape victim, and the two monsters in question.

"Anyway," Naruto cut off the two girls before they could reply, "I assume we all came here for a reason. Lets eat!"

The group entered the restaurant getting a couple of tables pushed up next to each other so they could all talk about their exams.

-----

It was dark outside when everybody finally left the restaurant. They had been there for a very long time, especially considering the fact that each of their respective tests lasted until noon. Somehow even Choji had managed to declare himself full (blasphemy!). And of course it was always fun to watch Sasuke squirm uncomfortably. Naruto and Hinata left rather satisfied, having been easily accepted into the group of new genin. They had made some new friends, in particular. The quiet Shino and the lazy Shikamaru. It was going to be a difficult journey for each of them to reach their dreams but at least they would have great friends and a lot of fun on the way.

It was practically ten when they finally made it home, having taken the long way, so they could just enjoy each other's company. They were greeted by Kyoko and Taiki, who had just had dinner. "Well you're back late," Kyoko said with a slight grin. "How was the test?"

"It was fun," Hinata replied. "We even managed to make some progress with Sasuke."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Then we met up with the rest of the teams who passed and spent quite a bit of time talking."

Their guardians nodded. "Well, we'll let you get some rest then. I assume you have to be up early tomorrow?"

The two young genin nodded and headed towards their room. Naruto flopped back onto the bed and let out a great sigh and closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt the bed move, and felt a little pressure on top of him. He opened his eyes to be greeted with the sight of (an amazingly gorgeous) Hinata, with a very sly Naruto-esque grin on her face. She was clothed in just a very silky and very loose night gown. "H-Hinata?"

She giggled, his voice had cracked. Instead of replying she bent down, capturing his lips in her own. After several seconds, or was it years? they moved apart, breathless but extremely satisfied. She slid off of him to lay by his side, resting her head on his shoulder.

Finally, Naruto managed to de-fuzz his brain. "Wow. What did I do to deserve that?"

"Well certainly not fainting on me the last time." He pouted, and her response of course was to giggle. "We're finally genin, we made a lot of good friends, I love you, and you somehow love me back. That last one on it's own is enough to make you deserve it."

Naruto smiled, reaching over to grasp her hand in his own. No more needed to be said. The couple fell asleep, Naruto still fully clothed.

-----

_Somewhere Unknown_

A man chuckled, his yellow slitted eyes glowing unnaturally in the nearly completely dark room. A shadow blocked his eyes from view for a brief second. Someone else was in the room. The other person spoke, "Orochimaru-sama, Sasuke has become a genin."

Orochimaru laughed. It didn't seem happy or infectious though, more... evil. "Of course he did."

Light glanced, across the large circular glasses of the man kneeling in front of him. "He has yet to unlock his Sharingan, however."

Orochimaru waved him off. "No matter. That will come in time. At the very latest, when I give him my... present."

A dull thumping mixed with the sound of footsteps grew louder. The same voice of the person who released Mizuki could be heard. "Orochimaru-sama. Mizuki has been released."

"Very well. I will contact you again when I have the next task ready for you. Oh and Danzo... I trust that Naruto-kun will be taken care of? His skills might sometime become a threat to our operation."

"Of course Orochimaru-sama. Mizuki has vowed to take him out, in any way possible."

Orochimaru's evil laugh filled the room.

-----

Naruto's eyes shot open. He glanced at the clock. 3:30. He closed his eyes... Where did he hear that name before... Danzo... Hinata was still sleeping silently next to him. Opting not to wake her, he switched places with a pillow, before heading to the bathroom. He doubted he would be able to get any more sleep. When he returned from the shower, fully clothed, it was nearly four. Still two hours before they had to be to the clearing. He silently sat down and opened the scroll he had been working on the previous morning. Smiling at what lay inside he got to work.

-----

It was a little over an hour later when Hinata finally woke up. Noticing that her warm comfy pillow was missing she looked around the room. "Naruto?"

He looked up and smiled rolling up the scroll. It was obvious that she knew something was up and it would be a completely pointless endeavor on his part to try and hide it from her. "I had another dream."

She nodded. "We'll go to see Hokage-sama after training today then." Getting up she headed towards the bathroom, once again 'forgetting' to bring any clothes other than her underwear.

Naruto seemed to not notice.

After an actually long and relaxing shower, Hinata headed back to the room. This time barely hesitating before opening the door and entering.

Naruto, who this time wasn't preoccupied, looked up at the sound of the door opening and started to speak. Or at least he tried. Whatever words he would have uttered were lost as his mind went completely blank, this time unable to tear his eyes away from his girlfriend.

Fighting to keep a smile off her face Hinata walked to her dresser, pulling out her training clothes and activating her Byakugan. Even without it she could feel Naruto's eyes following her as she went. As she bent over to pull her pants on she saw him gasp and cough before turning his head hastily to look at something else and managing to hit it against the wall. A huge blush appeared on her face as she realized just what she did, and quickly got dressed. Still blushing she barely caught Naruto's eye before the two of them looked away.

"Well, lets get to the training grounds then," Naruto mumbled.

Hinata could only nod in agreement. A blush coating both of their faces, although on Hinata it was significantly more noticeable.

-----

Kakashi was already in the clearing when the couple arrived. He stood silently in the center his one visible eye closed in concentration, and remaining closed until Naruto spoke. "I'm glad that you took my advice seriously Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi's eye shot open. _'Damn it!' _ He sill had not managed to sense them. Not revealing his inner thoughts he nodded. "I have yet to properly thank you for that. I've been making a bad decision, and you fixed that. So, I really appreciate it."

Naruto smiled. "No problem."

Sasuke walked into the clearing.

"Good now that you're all here, we can begin." Kakashi turned to both Naruto and Hinata. "I assume you both already know tree climbing? And water walking too if I'm not mistaken?" At their nod he he continued. "Then I want you two to spar on the lake north-west of here while I give Sasuke his assignment." When they were gone Kakashi turned to Sasuke. Ok, follow me. They headed over to a very large tree at the edge of the clearing. Kakashi tossed a kunai at Sasuke who caught it mid flight. "Use this to mark your progress. Your objective is to reach the top of the tree, by walking. No jumping and no using your hands..."

-----

When Naruto and Hinata returned with Kakashi, Sasuke had mad rather little progress. "Come on Sasuke," Naruto yelled. "We have to go get a mission. The quicker we get done, the sooner we can come back and get back to training!"

It was a relatively quiet trip to the Hokage's building. Sasuke was silent in contemplation about what he was doing wrong while Naruto and Hinata enjoyed the break and relaxed their muscles. Kakashi finally had his infamous book out, and was reading it as he walked, somehow not walking into anything or – anyone for that matter.

Their mission, a standard D-rank, was to help an elderly lady pick the weeds out of her rather muddy garden. Sasuke was visibly annoyed. _'What kind of mission is this?'_ When they finally reached the place of their mission Sasuke was in a rather foul mood. Mumbling angrily to himself he rolled his pants up and walked into the mud, trying to ignore Naruto's rather loud voice.

"Hey! Cool! The mud is really think. It's almost like it's wood!"

Sasuke froze, and quickly turned his head towards Naruto, managing to catch him turning away a smirk on his face. Exiting the mud, he concentrated chakra to his feet and tentatively stepped onto the mud. He grinned, his foot wasn't sinking. Stepping forward, he briefly lost his concentration causing mud to erupt from underneath his foot which in turn caused him to lose his balance and fall down.

-----

A couple hours later, a completely clean Naruto and Hinata accompanied a thoroughly soaked Sasuke back to the training grounds. The mission had taken so long that Kakashi had given them the rest of the day off, but Sasuke wasn't one to quit when he had something to master. Rather exhausted but completely determined, Sasuke pulled out the kunai from before and headed towards the tree, Naruto and Hinata in his wake. The couple sat down to watch. Sasuke's first attempt went much better than before, easily making it up twenty feet before his foot slipped. From then on however, he barely made any progress, only an inch or two at a time. An hour later he walked over to where Naruto and Hinata were resting and sat down, exhausted.

Naruto spoke. "You noticed it right Sasuke? Too much chakra, and your foot damages the tree. Too little and you slip off. You have to find the balance between the two and keep your chakra output steady. And that needs to become second nature for you to be able to utilize it to the fullest extent. This exercise is really useful. It's the basic exercise for chakra control. Once you've mastered it you'll be able to move onto more complicated stuff, such as walking on water, or using chakra in reinforce your legs so you can jump higher or longer. You may hate the exercise right now but you'll be thankful for it in the future. If you tried other techniques, you'd notice that even with this little bit you get a better result with the same amount of chakra." Naruto and Hinata got up. "Try not to stay up too late working on this, you'll need at least _some_ energy for tomorrow."

-----

And that's Chapter Eight! I'm glad I got this out a lot faster than the last chapter, and there are so many things to come that I have planned! I can't wait to see how the next chapter turns out. As always, review please, I've upgraded my writing car to a writing magical carpet, and you're reviews are the magic that power it!


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